a lightspotted darkness
by JessDAlyn
Summary: After Klaus murdered his twelve hybrids and Tyler's mother, he decides to make Tyler's life a living hell. Key to his diabolical new plan seems to be Caroline, who is making it very hard on the evil hybrid to go through with it. On top of that, a new unknown danger is arising in the form of various beautiful, deceiving shapes.
1. Chapter 1- In the darkness

**So this one takes place right after the events of season 4 ep.09, when Tyler, and his hybrids tried to kill Klaus and Haley sold them out. Stefan found out about Elena and Damon sleeping togehter. This is mainly about Klaus and Caroline, because I just love their Chemistry. I am verry sorry for my language mistakes. I´m German but since I watch the show in english, I couldn´t do this in german. Hope you still enjoy**

**Chapter 1 -In the darkness-**

He walked away, stained in blood and still enraged. _Why?_ He asked himself over and over again.

How could they have caught him so off guard? Nobody and nothing ever caught him off guard. All this work for nothing. The past months just wasted. Wasted on an army that eventually one by one turned against him. _Stupid_. He had been just so stupid not to expect others to follow Tyler´s lead. _TYLER._ That mutt. That unthankful little puppy, did he not know not to bite the hand of his master? His creator? He was the one that had saved him, saved all of them from that undesirable little curse. How much he would have liked to rip the little mutt´s heart out right now. But he would not, well not literally at least.

Klaus Mikaelson suddenly stopped in the darkness. His blue eyes black with hatred and bloodlust. He had just killed twelve, oh no that's not right, thirteen people. The twelve hybrids he had just executed were necessary, he knew that and he did not really enjoy that part so much. He hated killing hybrids, they were precious good to him but not in this state of mind, not with their own free will and a wish to kill him.

No, he could not accept twelve unsired half wolf-half vampire creatures, ready to kill him. They were no use to him anymore. Just like that useless ex wolfboy Tyler, his very first hybrid. God, he wanted to rip his heart out so bad right now. But then he remembered the last kill. The last one had not been a hybrid, but human. A fragile little woman, sitting drunk in front of a full pool of water. The perfect scenery. He was still amazed about how beautifully executed his last kill had been. A woman, drunk in the darkness. Just perfect! He had enjoyed that part, the struggle of that woman, as he had drowned here right there, Tyler´s mother. Klaus flashed a brilliant smile and relished in the memory.

The original hybrid continued walking through the woods of Mystic Falls, smiling now all the way. All his anger, his rage and bloodlust centered on one goal, making Tyler´s life a living hell until he begged for his forgiveness and only then he would be so merciful to kill him.

Caroline flinched as Stefan kept on breaking furniture. She felt with him. After all, he had just found out, that the girl that he loved, had slept with his brother. Maybe she shouldn´t have said anything about it. She was Elena´s friend, her best friend. But Stefan was her friend too and she couldn´t bear to see him putting so much trust in that despicable pig of a brother, that had obviously been lying to him the whole day.

"Stefan" she began, without really knowing what to say. What could she say to console him? It didn´t matter though, because Stefan wasn´t listening at all. While she just stared helplessly, he continued to break glass and scream at the emptiness. Finally he sank to the ground and shook helplessly. He looked very young, very vulnerable in that moment. She couldn´t hold herself back. Before she knew, what she was doing, she was kneeling beside him, feeling the need to comfort him. She gently put a hand on one of his still shaking shoulders. Just now she heard the sounds that came out of his throat. She had thought he was weeping when what he really did was ….laughing? No, that couldn´t be right.

"Uhm…Stefan…" she said weakly. The tall, handsome vampire slowly lifted his head up to look at her, only right now he wasn´t handsome at all. His face was in a tight grimace, something between a grin and the most grief stricken face she had ever seen. "Leave me alone, Caroline." "But.." "No Caroline, go. I just need to be alone now."

She wanted to say more, do more but she knew, there was nothing she could do to make this feel better for him. She had to go, leave him alone, so he could begin to wrap his head around the concept of Elena being in bed, not only with another man, but with Damon.

She didn´t feel like going home right away, so she decided to walk this horrible day off. After all, that bitch Haley had snapped her neck today. Well at least, they didn´t have to keep up the pretense between that wolf and Tyler anymore, now that Klaus was out of the picture. And there it was again, that sting somewhere in her stomach area that she had felt several times today. She had felt it just a few minutes ago, with Stefan in the mansion, while they had talked about Klaus´s death. Guilt. She actually felt guilty about playing a part in his passing, about knowing and being okay with it. She shook her blonde hair that fell in perfect curls over her shoulders. It was so stupid. How could she actually feel guilty about his death. If there was anyone on this planet who truly deserved death, it was the sadistic, violent original hybrid. He wasn´t capable of true feelings, such as guilt included, so she shouldn´t feel guilty. No, she wouldn´t feel that, not over him.

Still, there was something about knowing that she would never see him again, that made her feel weird. _Keep it together Forbes, only because he flashed as smile or two at you and has drawn you that cheesy little sketch, you think he actually liked you? So needy, so stupid._

She didn´t like to admit it but every time that lying, manipulative jerk of a hybrid had looked at her, she had seen an admiration in his face, that she had never seen before. Well, no that´s not right. She actually had seen that before, in Damon´s face whenever he looked at Elena, or in Stefan´s but it has never been directed at her before. Of course Tyler loved her and she knew that Matt had loved her as well and maybe a small part in him still did, but neither one of them had ever looked at her the way Klaus did. She wondered now, if it was all an act or if the oldest living creature in the world had actually begun to like an 18 year old new vampire, that never had been out of Mystic Falls, except for a week long skiing trip she had taken 4 years ago with Elena and Bonnie.

_Come on, stop thinking about that jerk. He´s gone now, you never have to worry about him anymore. You can be with Tyler again and the people you love are safe._

Caroline smiled softly. Yes, the world was a much better place without Klaus Mikaelson. She continued her walk in a much brighter mood, heading towards Tyler´s house now.


	2. Chapter 2 - Revelation

**Chapter 2 -Revelation-**

Tyler Lockwood was nervous. "Answer your phone, dammit!" he hissed into his own. For more than half an hour he had been trying to get in touch with Haley and the hybrids. He had called 13 different numbers for the past thirty seven minutes now. Something was wrong, he could feel it. Why didn´t they answer their phones? He decided to try Hayley again. Voice mail, _great,_ he thought. "Hey Hayley, why won´t you answer my calls. I´m kinda freaking out right now. Did everything go smoothly? Call me, as soon as you get this!"

It was just too weird. He couldn´t just sit here and wait. He jumped off the couch, grabbed his black jacket and stormed towards the door. He yanked it open and there she was, the angel that could make every bad situation feel alright. She smiled at him brightly, her hair shimmering in the dim light of the moon. "Care..." he said in a rough voice. "Where have you been? With Hayley? Did it all work?" He watched as her smile slowly melted off her face. "Hayley", she said in a bitter tone. "Ugh, sure you are worrying about your little wolf girl." She glared at him, her blue eyes full of suspicion and anger. "No Care…", Tyler hurried to say. "I just didn´t hear from her or the hybrids. And from you as well. Have you two decided to work this out alone?"

Caroline was confused. She had forgotten about the original plan of Tyler and Hayley. The one, where Tyler was to sacrifice himself in order to kill Klaus.

It had been her who had come up with the plan to use Rebekah, Klaus´s sister instead, since she was already daggered. Up until now, she had not thought about, why the annoying pretty wolf slut had broken her neck. She was too much absorbed with hating her for it and thinking it was just because she wanted to work with Tyler alone, since she obviously had a crush on him. But Hayley had not liked Caroline´s plan of using Rebekah, so why did she follow through with it? She must have, because Tyler was standing right in front of her, instead of being buried, or…

"Oh no…" she whispered, slowly realizing a horrible possibility.

"What? Care, what is it?" Tyler asked in a loud panicked noise. But he already knew. He had known it the whole time. This bad feeling, he had, it could only mean one thing and Caroline´s face showed him, that he was right. "Something went wrong." He was not asking, he was sure of it. Caroline nodded, the shock slowly creeping up her eyes. Then realization hit her. Tyler wasn´t safe, they all weren´t. "Tyler," she whispered, staring at him with huge eyes, not sure what to do right now.

Suddenly Tyler stiffened, staring into the darkness behind her. She slowly turned, not wanting to see, what she was about to see, hoping it wasn´t true. But there he was. His calm face more frightening than every rage, he could have been in.

He smiled and looked as frightening as death itself. So deadly.

"You seem surprised to see me." He said in his polite, British manner. His accent had become the promise of waiting horror to everyone in Mystic Falls.

"How?", Tyler simply asked with a surprisingly controlled face.

"Oh let's just say, you have a very poor judgment, when it comes to choosing your allies." He grinned.

Just now, Caroline took in his appearance. Blood, there was blood all over his clothes, his perfectly fitting clothes, that had make him look like the perfect gentleman earlier this evening, like a model on the cover of GQ. Now he looked like an angel of death. His blonde hair sticking to his forehead, the soft curls stained with dark red spots. His pale face held in absolute control, while his blue eyes showed the rage and the power that were fighting their way to the surface. All this blood on his clothes. She could smell it now as well and her vampire senses told her one thing, it was not the fresh and juicy scent of human blood, but the deep spicy scent of vampires. No not vampires, she realized. Hybrids. She had experienced this scent before, even had tasted something like it. But this blood was not the blood of the original, that she had filled her mouth with before. It was the blood of twelve hybrids.

"What do you mean?" Tyler now looked angry and panicked at the same time.

"Your little wolf girl, mate. I am very sorry, that I have to be the one to break it to you, but your new girlfriend sold you out." Klaus´s face brightened in a full smile now.

_He´s going to kill him_, Caroline thought. She knew this Klaus, the way he smiled without any real pleasure. _Oh god, no!_

She had to do something, anything. But as her head was racing to figure something out, Klaus slowly turned around, still smiling his deadly smile and walked towards the street. Relief mixed with confusion and suspicion washed over her. Then he started frowning as he was trying to remember something he wanted to say, waving his index finger, while he turned and took two steps towards them again.

"Oh and I recommend you to get a good night's sleep tonight. Tomorrow is going to be very…" He looked at Tyler from under his lashes and gave him a smile full of a devils amusement. "…. Emotional", he concluded. Then he looked straight at Caroline, holding her eyes with his. She felt paralyzed. Shivers ran down her spine, while the blonde man, who under normal circumstances in a normal life, she would have instantly been interested in, took one step towards her. She felt Tyler tensing his muscles, felt the wolf who was ready to spring, to kill the intruder. Only he couldn´t. Klaus glanced quickly at him, barely noticing the strong looking boy and then fixed his gaze at Caroline again. The moon was reflected by his pale face, his blue eyes looked so deep, she was afraid she would drown in them. Then he said in a low voice, a whisper that from where he stood could only be heard by vampires "You as well, love. It´s unfortunate that you got caught up in all of this but it is what it is. So rest sweetheart, you´ll need it." His voice filled her whole head, it almost felt like compulsion, they way he forced her eyes too see nothing but him in this moment. Then he turned on his heel and was gone.

"What the hell…" Tyler growled. "What did he mean by that?" Caroline turned to face him again. "I don´t…" she began, still shocked, her whole body trembling. She shook her head with wide eyes. Tyler suddenly took her by the arm and dragged her inside, before he carefully closed the door.

Then he just cursed and he was surprisingly creative at it, finding the most horrible words to describe Klaus. He walked through the room, lost in his monologue, when suddenly Caroline came back to life.

"He killed them…", she whispered. Tyler stopped in the middle of the room, still now. Then he turned towards her. "Tyler, he killed them all."

That´s when he sank to the ground, as realization hit him. Of course he had known it, he had seen the blood as well, he had smelled it. And even if he hadn´t, seeing Klaus standing in front of them unharmed, after his pack had tried to take him down, was evidence enough. But he just hadn´t realized the consequence. He looked up at Caroline, whose eyes started to tear up now, desperation written all over her face.

"Well…." He answered calmly in a dead tone. "Then he will kill us as well."

But Caroline knew, that if Klaus would have wanted to kill them, he would have done it just a few seconds ago. It couldn´t have been an attack of conscience that had stopped him. No he hadn´t had come to kill them. He had come to declare war, and nobody had ever survived a war with Klaus Mikaelson.


	3. Chapter 3 - Another day is dawning -

**Thank you all for the attention my little story is getting. I also really appreciate the input. Even I already have an idea how I will continue it, I would really like to hear your ideas and opinio****_ns._**

**Chapter 3 - Another day is dawning - **

He walked away, feeling a little less powerful, than he had when he had seen the expressions on their both faces. He had experienced this before and he didn´t like it. He had wanted to leave, ignoring her presence, her golden hair, her blue eyes, but he just hadn´t been able to do so. He was angry at her but still he couldn´t resist the temptation of looking at her. She was so beautiful to him, even when she looked as scared as she had looked tonight. He somehow liked her that way, afraid, terrified, because it was so pure. Caroline was a very strong woman that he knew. She acted even stronger around him, refusing to let him in. He smiled at that thought. She was very good at pretending, most of the time. Pretending not to be afraid, pretending not to be just that little bit more interested in his actions than everyone else. Her strong will was something he admired about her. He had never met a woman quite like her and she was only 18, barely a woman yet. He had spent many thoughts about the woman she would become with age, with experience and knowledge.

But tonight had been the very first time he had seen her so defenseless and scared. He had been so fascinated by the open look on her face, as she had dropped every façade. Those eyes, widened in shock, totally fixed at him, apparently unable to look away. He would treasure this moment, for it would be the last one with her that meant something. He simply decided that he couldn´t care anymore. He just couldn´t. For the plan that was forming in his head, he needed her. She was the closest to Tyler, now that he had taken that dog´s mother away.

Yes, in order to destroy that boy, Klaus Mikaelson had to forget about every feeling he had ever had towards Caroline Forbes, because she was now the essence to Tyler´s very own hell.

She had finally reached her house. It was far past 4 o´ clock in the morning. She had waited until Tyler had been fast asleep to leave. She didn´t know to be around him right now, around anyone really. She felt so paralyzed, so lost and somehow numb. Earlier this night, it had seemed as if everything was going to be alright again and now, what now? Caroline was absolutely sure, that Klaus would get revenge somehow and she was truly afraid. After getting a fresh blood bag out of the fridge, that her mother had bought for the sole purpose of storing her daughters new "food source", and finishing it within only ten seconds, she climbed up the stairs that led to the bath room. She didn´t bother about being quiet, because she knew, that twelve dead hybrid bodies would require her mother's presence as Sheriff and member of the council.

As soon as she entered the bathroom, she began to strip down automatically, feeling as if she was on autopilot, while her head was trying to figure out, what Klaus might be planning. After she had unzipped her white strapless dress and gotten out of her matching white underwear, she went into the shower. She turned the hot water on, feeling the desperate need to wash it all away, to wash the whole night away. But no shower could clean up the mess, they had created. After a while she just gave up. She turned out the water and slipped into a soft blue bathrobe. She didn´t care about her now tangled wet hair and the black stains of mascara on her face. She was tired, tired of everything, tired of fighting, tired of this reality. So she walked straight into her room, fell onto her bed and into a deep and dreamless sleep.

Tyler woke up to the sound of the doorbell. Someone was frantically ringing it again and again and knocking on the door desperately. He needed a while to get back to reality and when he did, he jumped off the couch in one fast movement. _The couch? _ Yes, he remembered sitting there with Caroline, after Klaus had shown up at his door, making these vague threats. "Caroline?!" He scanned the room with his eyes, but she wasn´t there. The doorbell rang again and as he walked over to open the door, he heard the voice that was frantically calling his name. "Tyler! TYLER! Oh god, please be there. TYLER, open the door!" _Bonnie? What was she doing here?_ Of course she must have known by now that his plan had failed, but what did she want now? Again, he had a very bad feeling. He slowly opened the door and Bonnie almost fell into his house. "Tyler, thank god, you´re alive. How? Did he find you? What happened?" she rushed him. He was in no mood to discuss his failure from the previous night, so he snapped "Well I guess you know what happened, don´t you?" His tone made her finally calm down. "I´m so sorry."

He looked at the witch in total confusion. "You´re… sorry?" Somehow that phrase didn´t really fit the situation. Then he saw something that confused him even more. Huge tears were falling from those dark eyes and she looked at him like she felt … pity? _Well, that´s weird, _he thought. She now laid one hand on his shoulder, gently squeezing it. "I just heard about it. An accident, yeah sure. This has Klaus written all over it. God, Tyler. I am so sorry." Now his head was spinning. Something had happened, something he didn´t know about. "Wait, Bonnie! What are you talking about? What happened? Is it Caroline? Did he…" Bonnie stared at him with shock. "Oh my god." She slowly lowered her hand from his shoulder and took one step back. She looked at him in disbelief. "You… you don´t know?" "Know what Bonnie?" Tyler yelled at her. She probably didn´t deserve it but he was panicking. Bonnie didn´t answer. She was now staring at the floor, unable to look at him. He was getting impatient. "KNOW WHAT, BONNIE? TELL ME!" Bonnie began crying again and slowly lifted her head to look at him.

"It´s your mom, Tyler." She almost choked on the words. "They say… they say it was an accident, the police." Tyler had a feeling as if he was falling, falling for a long time, deeper and deeper. From somewhere in the darkness he managed to whisper "An accident? What kind of accident?" Bonnie let out a lout sob but then answered, her voice full of compassion. "They say she was drunk, she must have been sitting on that little stone well, you know that one, where they had put up those Christmas lights earlier?. Sherriff Forbes found her this morning after they had dealt with the bodies of those hybrids. They say she was too drunk and just fell into the water and couldn´t get up again. That´s the official story anyway."

"Klaus!" Tyler spit out. Not only had he just killed his whole pack, but his own mother as well. His mother, dead? _No, it can´t be. This has got to be a joke. _

"Tyler? Tyler!" Bonnie shook him. "You HAVE to get out of here, he´s going to kill you as well. You have to leave, go far away, somewhere out of his reach." "No." Tyler said as he came back to reality again. A look of determination had taken its place on his face. "No? What do you mean, no? Have you gone mad?" "I won´t leave. I can´t!" Bonnie stared at him uncomprehendingly. "What do you mean, you can´t? Tyler, you have to!" "I CAN`T!" he screamed and stormed of his door, leaving a desperate Bonnie behind.


	4. Chapter 4 - A hybrid s first move -

**Chapter 4 - A hybrid´s first move - **

Elena ran down her street, heading towards the Sherriff´s house. _Please, please let her be ok. _She had just got off the phone with Bonnie, after the witch had been to Tyler´s house, causing him to fly towards town. Elena still couldn´t believe it. Mayor Lockwood was dead and the second one with the exact title who had come to this end. Murdered, that was for sure. It would have been too much of a coincidence, that Tyler´s mother would have had an accident in the same night that Klaus had murdered the whole hybrid pack. It was his personal revenge. Klaus had murdered the mayor to get revenge on Tyler.

As she ran in human speed, in case any of her neighbors were watching, she thought back to her conversation with Bonnie.

"He killed her Elena. He killed her and I lost Tyler. What are we going to do?"

"Bonnie, calm down. Who killed who? What is with Tyler?" Elena had said sleepily. She hadn´t had slept much the previous night, thinking about the whole situation with Damon and also still worrying about her brother. It was all such a mess.

Bonnie had hurried to explain the whole plan of taking down Klaus, that she herself had not known everything about until early in the morning.

"… but it didn´t work, Elena! Klaus found out somehow and … and he killed them all, the hybrids, I mean and possibly that werewolf friend of Tyler, I don´t really know. And he killed his mother, Mayor Lockwood. He drowned her, made it look like an accident. Tyler doesn´t seem to know where Caroline is and she´s not answering her phone… Oh god, what if…"

That´s when Elena had hung up and dialed Caroline´s number. She had waited anxiously for the bright voice of the blonde vampire to come out of her phone, which it finally had: "Hey, you´ve reached Caroline. Sorry I can´t pick…" Elena had hung up, rushed to put on the jeans and the shirt, she had worn the previous day and had been flying out her door.

_She has to be there. _She thought as she came closer and closer to Caroline´s house, using her vampire speed, as soon as she felt no eyes on her anymore. When she reached the Sherriff´s house, she instantly knew that something was wrong. She had feared it the whole time.

Sherriff Forbes was standing outside her house, a few of her new deputies around her, looking worried and exhausted. Elena ran towards her. "Sherriff! What happened?" Liz Forbes was shaking her head, the look of a worried mother written all over her face. Elena now saw Tyler who was standing just a few feet away, staring at the ground, his hair standing up in every direction and Stefan who had begun to frown even more, as Elena entered the scene. Elena didn´t care about her own romantic problems right now. She walked over to Stefan. "What happened?" she asked him, since the Sherriff was in no condition to answer. "Caroline is missing." he said in a hard tone. "Tyler saw her last around 3 in the morning and…" "And I fell asleep, I don´t know where she went, I didn´t wake up." Tyler interrupted Stefan in a defensive and desperate voice. "Well, where you think she is?" Elena asked, somehow managing to keep her tone relatively calm.

"We don´t know. What we know is, that she must have come home after she had left Tyler´s house." "How?" Elena knew that they were holding back a big piece of information, the one piece that made them all look so hopeless.

Now Sherriff Forbes engaged in the conversation as well. "We found this, lying on the kitchen table." She said as she held up an empty blood bag. Elena didn´t get it.

"Well, did you go look for her? Maybe she just went into town or something."

Stefan nodded. "That´s what we hoped and we went looking for her, everywhere we could think of, and then we found the blood bag…" He now held it up to Elena´s face. "Smell it" he demanded. Elena did as she was told and her nose picked up a scent, apart from the fresh, delicious scent of human blood, a barely detectable somewhat fruity scent. "What is it?" she asked. "Vervain?"

"Taste it!" Stefan now insisted. Elena reluctantly sucked at the end of the bag, barely getting half a drop out of it but it was enough to feel the effect. Her tongue kind of began to feel numb and her head clouded for a few seconds. No, this wasn´t vervain. She knew the effects of vervain. This substance, whatever it was, didn´t sting, wasn´t painful.

"We have no idea what it is. Tyler tried it just an hour ago, when there was still a little blood left."

"It was weird." Tyler muttered. "I just felt so… tired and then I kind of … dropped." Elena took in Tyler´s appearance again, the chaotic hair and his clothes that, she now realized, were stained with brown and green. Yes, he indeed looked as if he had fallen to the humid, muddy ground of Sherriff Forbes´ front yard.

While she was still taking in Tyler, Stefan went on with his explanations. "We assume that it is some kind of anesthetic for vampires. Klaus must have spiked the blood bags in the house." _But he must have been invited in_, Elena thought, desperate to find something, that would prove Stefan´s assumptions wrong. "I have invited him in." Sherriff Forbes now said, apparently guessing Elena´s thoughts. "After I had bitten her a few months ago." Tyler ended her sentence. _Of course. Klaus had healed her with his blood._

So that´s that, then. Klaus had Caroline. Elena suddenly noticed something weird. "Wait…" she said. "Tyler, what are you still doing here, anyway? Why didn´t you run? He is going to kill you!" Tyler frowned and opened his mouth but Stefan answered, before he could. "Don´t bother, we tried that already. He won´t leave." _What? Has everyone gone completely crazy? _"He says he can´t." Stefan went on in a meaningful tone, while staring into Elena´s eyes, forcing her to realize something. _Oh no_, she thought, understanding the weight of Stefan´s words. She knew why Tyler wouldn´t leave, why he hadn´t had left in the first place. _He actually can´t! _

"He has been compelled." She whispered in horror.


	5. Chapter 5- Two is bad company

Chapter 5- Two is... bad company

The first thing Caroline noticed, as she opened her eyes, was the light. It was wrong somehow. Normally the light that woke her was much cooler, as it was reflected by the beige color of her bedroom. Slowly she lifted her body in an upright position and took in the strange warm light of this unfamiliar room. It was painted in a dark red color on two walls and a light almost white yellow on another. A fourth wall was cased in wooden panels. _How did I get here?_, she thought. And where was ´here´ anyway? She was certain of one thing. She had never been there before in her life. Her eyes took in every detail of the room, as she scanned it carefully, looking for clues. She saw two doors on each side of the room, both closed. There was also a huge window, from which all this light came. Apart from the bed, the room did not hold much furniture. There was a high book bookshelf on the opposite side of the bed and a tall designer lamp. On the wooden paneled wall hung a artistic painting, holding the colors red blue and green. The dark wooden floor looked very old. The bed, on which she was sitting was huge and built of the same dark wood as the floor and the wall.

Her head was still clouded from her deep sleep. She remembered having fallen on a bed, on HER bed, after showering. She shook her head. What the hell was going on? Slowly another detail came rushing back to her memory. She had worn a bathrobe, when now what she was wearing was… what was she wearing? Her hands began to search under the blanket. She wore jeans and a top. Her jeans and her top, she realized as she looked under the blanket. She also saw a white bra under the straps of her top. Someone must have dressed her, which meant that someone had seen her naked.

She had a very bad feeling. Still confused, she swung herself out of the bed onto the wooden floor, which squeaked slightly under her feet. "Hello?" she asked the empty room. "Is anyone here?" she now yelled, slowly walking towards one of the doors.

"Ugh, have you always been this annoying?" a familiar voice with a thick British accent sounded behind her. Caroline turned to face the second door. "Rebekah?!"

The blonde original vampire rolled her eyes. "I already regret having said yes to this. Well at least, he allowed me to play with you." She flashed a smile at Caroline, the kind of smile young, blonde and beautiful girls gave, whenever they were speaking to their next victim. The smile every high school Queen bee had prepared and perfected through her life. Caroline knew it far too well. After all, that was exactly what she had been only a year ago, a shallow wannabe Queen in high school. But Rebekka was not a typical high school girl, of course. So whatever plan she had been planning would most certainly be much worse than putting gum in Caroline's hair or making her ask out the most popular boy in school. Whatever game Rebekka was playing, it was about inducing pain and causing real trouble.

"What´s going on?" Caroline asked, angry now about having to put up with the evil blood slut, who to Caroline´s annoyance looked as perfect as always. She wore her hair open as she did most of the time. Today it was perfectly straight and ironically almost looked like a halo. Caroline had always secretly envied her for being able to wear her hair straight and shiny, no hair ever being out of place. She slowly took in Rebekah´s outfit, hating her for looking this flawless. She wore a white top that fit her perfectly, showing her curvy upper body, a pair of simple, black, soft looking skinny jeans and grey ankle boots with heels just high enough to be a little bit taller than Caroline.

"Where am I?" she insisted, when Rebekah showed no intention of answering. "How are you even alive…again?"

"God, can you be any less fun?! Calm down. Stop asking so many questions. They won´t do you any good anyway!" Rebekah clearly enjoyed this situation. As Caroline looked at her disgustedly, she reached into the pocket of her perfectly fitted Armani jeans and pulled out a mobile. "Let´s get this thing started now, shall we?" she said not looking at Caroline. With an air of pure disinterest, she dialed a number and held the phone to her right ear.

"What the…" Caroline began and got interrupted by a heavy kick from Rebekah that sent her flying across the room, towards the left door, which broke due to the impact.

"I said stop asking questions!" Rebekah hissed at her, holding the phone down the right side of her body. Suddenly they both heard a voice. "Hello? Who is this? Care, is that you?" "Tyler… "Caroline whispered. But Rebekah sent a warning glance in her direction, then her face brightened again as she purred into the phone: "Caroline is a bit preoccupied right now but I have been told by many men what an excellent conversation keeper I am." Rebekah smiled brightly, obviously pleased with her witty response. "Rebekah?" Caroline heard Tyler say at the other end of the line. "Hi Tyler.", Rebekah said innocently, as she walked through the room towards the window. "So I guess, he undaggered you, huh? Does he need you as his backup?"

As Tyler spoke, Caroline stood up from the floor, feeling the urge to punch that smiling bitch right in the face. But she was not stupid or suicidal enough to pick a fight with an original without any backup herself. Instead she went back over to the bed and sat, waiting for that little blonde bully to get on with whatever she was planning. She listened to the conversation intently.

" That shouldn´t be your concern right now. I would think you have other things to worry about, or don´t you? You know, my brother is pretty angry about you trying to kill him. I really don´t get why, since he should be already getting accustomed to this kind of thing. But I don´t care, really. I just called you to let you know, that your little girlfriend is with me right now. No need to worry, we are having a great time together so far. However, Nick wanted me to tell you, that he´s having a little party at his house tonight. You should come. Oh and bring Matt."

Caroline was momentarily paralyzed. Of course Klaus was involved. She had guessed that he would plan something despicable to get back at Tyler for trying to kill him. _He should have ran, they both should have. But they couldn´t, they couldn´t leave town, because… she had been supposed to rest the other night._ Caroline blinked, her vision clouded. She stopped thinking and turned her focus back to the conversation. Unfortunately, she had missed Tyler´s response. But it couldn´t have been anything good, because Rebekah´s smile brightened.

"Well, maybe you want to overthink your response again. Caroline will be there, you know, as my brother´s date."

She quickly ended the conversation at that, pressing the red symbol on her phone.

"So that´s done now." She said in a light, carefree tone.


	6. Chapter 6- Other duties -

Chapter 6- Other duties -

As he was driving down the street that leads out of Mystic Falls he tried to imagine his revenge. It was going to be a good one, that was certain. As the sun was slowly rising above the hills, Klaus grabbed the ray bans from the empty seat beside them and put them on. He didn't particularly liked to cloud his vision like that but nothing was more disturbing to the eyes of a vampire, like looking directly into the sun. Still he enjoyed the way light and shadow were painting their perfect little picture, changing the colors of the world around him and giving the trees beside the road a thousand different shades of green. He let himself be distracted by the spectacle of light and then went back to his original thought, his one goal, that went before everything, even before finding that cursed little cure, he had been focused on lately. He would only stop by the lake house shortly to see how that arrogant, annoying vampire was doing with the Gilbert boy. _Damon. _

There were very few things Klaus hated more than spending even the smallest amount of time with the older Salvatore Brother. He was always so smug and ironic and knew just the right things to say to infuriate Klaus. If he hadn't proved to be a smart and witty little creature and helpful at times like these, he would have long got rid of Damon. But as it was, he needed him, so he had to put up with him. He was way more efficient than Stefan and didn't have the high morals of his own brother Elijah. Sure he was impulsive but not as irresponsible as Cole, his younger brother and he may be vain but not as much as his sister Rebekah. Klaus still hated him. He was too intelligent, too arrogant and he just never shut up. Klaus smiled again. He knew exactly why he really hated Damon. They were alike in so many matters, but there was one difference between them, that made Klaus furious. How did that smug vampire, who had done just as many evil things in his life as Klaus, in relation to his relatively short life, manage to get little, innocent, pure Elena Gilbert? Sure, she was sired to him but Klaus who had more experience with the sire bond, than anyone else, knew exactly that the bond never affected feelings. He had just had this proved, when his hybrid teamed up to unsire themselves and kill him.

So how did he do it? He was pure evil or had been evil until recently and normally the moral and good Elena was disgusted by people like him. A short while ago, Klaus would not have given a damn about either one of them or their relationship, but now…

He shook his head. It didn't matter anymore. Whether he would ever know Damon's secret, there was no chance for him and … her, not anymore. He had sworn himself to destroy Tyler and he knew in order to do that, he had to hurt her, torture her and in the end even kill her. Yes, Caroline had to die. Klaus was sure that his satisfaction about Tyler's torment would take away whatever he would feel after it was done. After all, he had a reputation to keep up. And who was she? A 17, maybe 18 year old, new vampire. She had no special education, nothing interesting at all.

While he was thinking intently about the implications of his new plan, he almost drove by the small side path that lead to the lake house. He saw it at the last moment and swung his new black Porsche onto the little road. He sped up, just for the fun of it. _Yes, this car is definitely worth its money, _he thought, smiling. Then he abruptly stopped the car, as he had driven close to the wooden house to see a small clearing in front of it. No one seemed to have noticed the sound of his car. Klaus stopped the engine and looked towards the house through his windshield.

He saw them right away. Three figures, all male. The young Gilbert boy, who had recently buffed up, due to his new supernatural job as a vampire hunter, the blonde human boy, his sister was secretly fond of and of course the black clothed vampire who was yelling at them both. Klaus made himself listen to Damon's rant. "…. So if you don't want to be ripped to bits by someone, I suggest you take this a little more seriously. Right now you are no match to any decent vampire!" "Well, we can see about that, right now!" Jeremy answered sourly and attacked Damon with a perfectly carved wooden stake. As he ran towards the vampire, he pointed the stake directly at Damon's heart. Matt, _Yes, Matt is his name, _Klaus thought absently, was obviously not able to hold him back, as he was merely a human. Damon on the other hand was very fast and strong. Klaus had seen him attack many times and had secretly admired his grace. He always reminded him of a very powerful predator, like a shark or more like a wild cat, a panther maybe. He watched intently as Jeremy ran towards the panther now. And just as expected, Damon didn't move until the very last second and then he swiftly took a step to the right, twisted Jeremy's hand, which caused the hunter to let the stake fall to the ground. Then he took his whole arm and twisted it even further. Klaus heard Jeremy scream in agony and then shout insults at Damon. Damon flashed a brilliant smile, that didn't reach his eyes and then grumbled in a low voice, "As I said, no match at all!" Then he let go of Jeremy's arm through him to the ground and looked darkly at the boy. This was the moment, when Klaus decided to enter the scenery. He got out of his car, took of his ray bans and took a few steps towards the three men. Damon suddenly changed his position and stiffened. So he had heard him now. "Is this the hunter you want to deliver?" Klaus asked, not bothering to shout, since Damon could hear him even if he had whispered. Damon now turned to face him. He didn't speak though, until Klaus was only a few steps away.

"What are YOU doing here? I can't remember to have sent out a coffee invitation." He said, looking straight into Klaus's eyes. And even though Klaus hated Damon, he had to admit, that he always was very nice to look at. Beautiful was the word that always came to his mind, when looking into these eyes, that held the deepest and purest blue, he had ever seen on anyone, _or almost the deepest._ Suddenly a picture came to his mind. Blonde hair as golden as the sun he had admired earlier, eyes of the color of the deep sea, skin as pale and perfect as a pearl. Klaus's mind flinched away from the picture. He made himself concentrate on the dark haired vampire in front of him and glared at him. Damon frowned. His dark, thick eyebrows almost touched his heavy lashes now. Yes, Damon was definitely beautiful. In all his hundreds of years, Klaus had now spent on this earth; he had rarely seen such beauty. It was really a shame, to waste that kind of beauty on a creature of darkness, he had often thought. It was another reason for Klaus not to kill him. Though Klaus had done many evil things, he had always enjoyed the beauty of nature, of birds and predators, humans, witches and vampires. It really would be a shame to kill a creature like this.

Still the way Damon looked at him with his ironic crooked smile was already almost too much for Klaus and he suddenly wished to rip that bold bastards tongue out. His face tightened as he answered. "Well, I thought I'd take a look at my hunter. How many vampires has he killed so far?" Damon's eyebrows lifted at that question and he lost the grin. "Well…" he began.


	7. Chapter 7- Cruelty and tenderness -

**Chapter 7- Cruelty and tenderness- **

Caroline couldn't believe it. She looked at the tall blonde girl opposite of her, the shiny curls flowing softly to her shoulders. Blue, long lashed eyes sparkling wonderingly. Her neck was bare except for a single silvery necklace with dark red stones. Caroline touched the golden frame of the mirror. She just could not believe what the evil blood slut had done with her. She looked…. _Beautiful_, she thought.

"Are you done admiring yourself?" the other blonde behind her hissed. Caroline barely listened. She was too amazed by the silky fabric that touched her skin from her chest down to her thin legs. A long slit was placed exactly right to show almost the entire side of her right leg, the soft fabric lightly flowing around it at every breeze that came from an open window near the door of Rebekah's room. Her dress was dark red just like the stones of her necklace. _No, not stones. Rubies! _She actually wore Rubies around her neck and two little ones in her ears. _I look expensive. _She thought, slightly amused by her own thoughts.

"Hello? God, if I hadn't spent hours making you up, so you look almost nice for once, I would hit you."

The front door banged loudly, causing both girls to turn their heads to the right. From the following evil grin on Rebekah's face, Caroline took that she should be frightened but somehow she just couldn't manage to be frightened, while she looked just like a princess taken straight from some fairytale, a twisted fairytale of course, where the evil stepmother dresses the princess in the most beautiful gown and doing her make-up and hair. Somehow Caroline didn't expect the next person to be someone terrible but she was wrong. Just as Rebekah attempted to head towards the door, it opened and a blonde, gorgeous man entered, bringing an air of death with him. "Klaus!" Caroline managed to whisper, horrified. Of course she had known, that he would come to collect her but nothing could have prepared her for the way he looked. Though he looked as deadly as ever. wearing a calm humorless smile on his full lips, she also had never seen him look more like a model. He wore a black tuxedo, that looked like it was especially tailored and fitted for him.

He looked straight into her eyes. She noticed the coldness in them. Also they weren't the deep blue, she had seen on Tyler's doorstep. Today they were grey; cold, emotionless light grey. Though he smiled, he emanated an air of danger, death and darkness.

"Hello, love." He almost whispered. "Are you ready?" Caroline didn't know what to say. How could she be ready for anything? She didn't even know what was going on. Sure, she knew Klaus was plotting something horrible to get back at Tyler. This whole ball thing, that was about to take place at his house was surely going to be the most exquisite revenge plan, anyone has ever imagined. She just couldn't figure out what he was planning. It involved her, but to what end? Did he simply want to torture Tyler by taking his girlfriend for himself? It seemed that way to her, but she couldn't be sure. One thing she knew for sure, Klaus was using her to lure Tyler out but what then?

Rebekah snapped her fingers in front of Caroline. "Hey! I'm bored, let's go downstairs!" she tried to pull Caroline along with her in Klaus' direction but Caroline freed herself from her grip. "NO!" She said, determined not to play their stupid game. "Tell me what's going on first!" she demanded, looking straight into Klaus' grey eyes, forcing herself not to look away, not to blink. Klaus didn't seem surprised, but his face hardened, his mocking smile disappeared.

"Are you sure you really want to know?" His tone suggested, that it would be better, if she didn't. It scared Caroline. She felt a shiver running down her spine. Still she said "Yes! If I am a piece in your little plan, I want to know what my role is exactly!" "Why? So you can fight me? So you can try to avoid what's going to happen? You know very well that you can't." While he spoke, he stepped closer to Caroline, never taking his eyes from her face. "Well.." she said shakily, "Maybe I'm just curious!"

At that Klaus laughed quietly, looking to the ground as if enjoying a joke, only he could understand. "Oh, I'm sure you are." He coughed, still laughing and looking at her intently from under his lashes. His eyes looked blue again, under the luminous light from the luxurious candelabra above their heads. _How, can someone this beautiful be this cruel?_ She thought to herself, while her gaze lingered involuntarily at his full lower lip. His mouth looked soft now, not as cruel as she knew it could look. His laugh was honest, she could tell as much. Now she heard the noise of high heels on the dark wooden floor and an exasperated sigh as Rebekah was leaving the room. She was all alone with him now. He had stopped laughing at the noise of Rebekah's shoes, suddenly seeming to come back to reality, his face hardening again. He took one more step towards Caroline. _Too close_, her panicked mind shouted instantly. She lifted her right arm to his chest, her palm open to ward him off. Before she could shove him, he caught her wrist, holding it in a hard grip. Stupidly she lifted her second hand, which he easily gripped as well. Caroline felt paralyzed. His fingers felt cool around her wrist and he clearly had no intention of being careful. His hands felt as if he was trying to crush her wrists, while he was staring into her eyes with a mad expression. She breathed heavily, not daring to move, too scared he would kill her on the spot. At the pain on her arms, her eyes slowly filled with tears, which embarrassed her. She didn't want to feel weak now and she most certainly didn't want him to see her weakness, her helplessness. Unable to do anything but looking at his perfect features, she couldn't stop the single tear that was slowly spilling over her left eye and rolling down her cheek. She watched as his face changed. The hardness in his eyes faded, his eyebrows lifted wonderingly, the cruelty of his mouth vanished, as he opened it, his upper lip shaking slightly. She felt the pressure on her wrist fading as well. But he didn't let go. Instead he pulled her hands toward him softly, forcing her open palms to touch his chest. At her confusion a second tear was making its way down her cheek. He lifted his left hand from her wrist to her face, hesitated a second and then slowly extended his index finger to catch the tear. The shock of his tenderness made her gasp. It felt as if his cool finger was touching through her skin, burning her to the bone. It wasn't painful, but something else. She felt his breathing become faster under her palms.

"Nick! Hurry up, the guests are going to be at your place in 15 minutes!" Rebekah's voice was calling from downstairs. Caroline felt like snapping out of a trance. In one movement, she took her hands from Klaus' chest and backed away several steps. Klaus turned towards the door a split second later. "Come downstairs, when you look presentable again!" he said in a voice as cold as ice and as cutting as a razor blade. "If you're not down in five minutes I'll send Rebekah to get you!" Then he was gone. Caroline stared at the door, not understanding what had just happened.


	8. Chapter 8 - dancing with the devil -

**Chapter 8- dancing with the devil- **

She had done exactly as he had requested. What else was there to do? After she had tended to her wet cheeks and carefully applied another thin layer of makeup, she had walked the steps down to the front door of the house, Rebekah's new house, Caroline had soon realized, and gotten into a black limousine that was parked just outside. She now sat next to Rebekah and opposite of Klaus, who was very deliberately not looking at her but out the window. No one said a word during the 10 minute ride to the Mikaelson mansion. Klaus seemed deep in thought, just as Caroline was. She still couldn't figure out, what he was planning and saying that she was confused about what happened just inside Rebekah's house was an understatement. And there was something that was seriously bugging her. Something, but what? She couldn't put her finger on it, but something about this whole thing, about how she had even gotten into this situation and Tyler… _Think, Forbes! What is it? _

But what did it even matter? She was here now and she had to figure something out. But how to figure out a way to destroy a plan, when she didn't even know the plan itself? It was all very frustrating and frightening. The limousine came to a stop. Caroline looked outside the window and sure enough, there it was: The opulent, luxurious mansion, that Klaus had spent months to fix and which originally had been built for seven people, the Mikaelson family, Esther, Mikael and their five children. Now with Mikael, Esther and Finn gone and Elijah and Kol hiding god knows where, there were only two originals left in Mystic Falls. Rebekah and Klaus didn't really leave things on good terms, with him daggering her for the third time. _Why does she even help him? _It didn't make sense to her.

But she didn't have the time to think now. The limousine door opened. After Klaus had stepped out of the car he offered her his hand without looking at her. She took it, knowing that she had no other option. As soon as she stood next to him he locked her hand into his arm and started walking towards the illuminated mansion, that already seemed to be crowded. She heard many different voices and her ears immediately began searching for familiar ones. Music was playing softly. Though she picked up some familiar voices, she couldn't hear the ones she was frantically searching for. No Bonnie, no Elena, no Stefan and most importantly no Tyler. Then again, they wouldn't stand around laughing and chatting like the other guests did, while waiting for Klaus' next move. They entered the mansion through the large front door and as they did, the inside became a very quiet place. Almost everybody was staring at them. Caroline immediately saw the worried face of her mother, who looked horrible and as if she hadn't gotten much sleep. She seemed relieved though, seeing Caroline alive and well. Caroline scanned the rest of the large ballroom. There she saw Matt, who had a serious expression on his face. Now and then she saw the familiar face of a class mate or family members of her friends, like Jeremy, who she was more than surprised to see in a place, that was sure to be crawling with vampires like herself. _God, I hope he won't try something stupid. _Next to Jeremy she spotted Damon, who was looking almost bored, as if this whole scenery didn't impress him at all. But she knew him, he was probably furious at seeing that Klaus had his hands on one of HIS girls. Not that he really cared about her in THAT way, not anymore at least, but she was sure that he would never let Klaus harm her, not if he could do anything to prevent it. But he couldn't. If Klaus wanted to do anything to her, and by now she was almost sure he was going to, there was nothing in this world that could help her. _But they're gonna try._

She took her eyes away from Damon, proceeding with her scan of the room, and she finally saw him. Tyler. He was standing in the shadows of the long hallway that lead out of the ballroom into the private part of the mansion. His face looked, as if he was ready to explode. But he didn't look at her. He didn't seem to be able to take his furious eyes away from Klaus. Caroline glanced at the blonde man beside her and saw that Klaus had discovered Tyler as well. He was smiling at him, a cruel, sadistic smile that promised punishment. He seemed to feel Caroline's gaze and turned his head to face her. He also seemed to have forgotten their little confusing encounter from only fifteen minutes ago. He was back in his plan now, she was sure. "Will you grant me this dance?" he asked her. At his smugness, she was finally able to gain back her strength and her anger. "I guess I don't have a choice, do I?" she answered, putting as much disgust in her voice, as she could manage. "Exactly" he simply said and led her to the middle of the room, where he positioned her arms and body into a dancing posture. She recognized the posture. The dance he wanted to open the ball with, was a Tango. "seriously.." she muttered, shaking her head. "Don't worry love. If you don't know the dance, I will teach you!" he said In his most seductive voice. "Oh, I know the dance." She almost spat into his face. "Very well, then." He answered, clearly amused by her reaction. He gestured the band to start and a soft and nice music began to fill the room. She recognized it immediately. It was only the most famous Tango song in the world, por una cabeza. She knew every note by heart.

As Klaus began to move, she just let him lead her. She knew there was no real point in resisting. If this was part of his plan, making Tyler jealous by dancing with her to an erotic song, so be it. It wasn't all that horrible. Maybe if she just played along and actually made Tyler jealous, Klaus might just be satisfied enough to change his mind about the rest of his plan. She had to protect Tyler, so she kept her posture and gave the performance of her life, which wasn't hard, being the dancer she was. She felt his hands on her body, applying just the right amount of pressure. Since they had danced once before, they knew one an others rhythms. She just decided to forget that she was dancing with the most terrible being in the whole world and tried to concentrate on the dance and on the man. She knew exactly how striking she looked in her red dress with the long slit and her long, curly hair and he looked just as perfect, if not more so. Their heights were perfect for this. She closed her eyes, feeling his hands, enjoying the music. He was very steady, supporting her weight perfectly, balancing her at every step.

She suddenly heard him whisper directly in her ear. "I am sorry, that I didn't get a chance to say this earlier this evening, but you look very beautiful tonight." She tried to ignore his breath in her ear, tickling her softly. She looked in Tyler's direction. Tyler seemed to be frozen and not able to take his crazy looking eyes away from them for a second. So ist worked, he was jealous. She knew that Klaus had been watching him throughout the dance and had seen his reaction as well. Maybe, it will be enough, maybe she would be enough. She didn't have to reach far for her next words. "You don't look so bad yourself." He laughed and spun her. When she was back in his arms he said. "It's really too bad you know. Only a week ago, I would have killed to dance to this particular song with you…" Caroline couldn't resist and answered "Oh I am sure you would have, killed I mean. It's like breathing to you, isn't it?" To her surprise he didn't get mad, he simply said "Yes it is. But I am still not very happy about what I will have to do." The way he said this made her instincts scream danger. His voice was actually sad. She began to realize right then, that it wouldn't be enough, having her, well in his arms and simply watch a high school boy go crazy with jealousy. "Why?" she asked stupidly. The last few notes of the song sounded and she suddenly felt his hand cupping her chin, making her face him directly, his lips only a few inches away from hers. She felt his breath on her face, as he whispered. "Because I am going to have to kill you!"


	9. Chapter 9 - night time plans -

**Chapter 9- night time plans - **

Stefan and Elena stood in front of the mansion. The cold night breeze wasn't bothering them at all. The air between them was filled with tension, and not the good kind. _Does he know? _She asked herself. God, she hoped not. She wanted to be the one who to tell him. Maybe Damon hadn't been able to resist. But could he really be this cruel? He had been the one, who told her not to tell him just yet. Maybe he just wanted to do it himself. It would be a lot like the old Damon to hurt his brother for no reason at all. She had to know.

"Stefan, did Damon say something to you?" she asked shakily, not daring to turn toward him and look into his eyes. "Like what?" he said a little too calmly, staring emptily at the brightly lit mansion. _He knows. _"Stefan look, I wanted to tell you but Damon…" "Let me guess, he thought it would be more fun to sneak around behind my back." _He knows and he is angry. Of course he is. _"What exactly did he tell you?" she asked. "Nothing." He answered turning to look at her now. She studied his face. "Then how…?" "Caroline" he said dryly.

Great. Caroline, the one person she couldn't be angry at right now. Not while she was sick with worry about her. She would be angry at her, as soon as they got her out of Klaus' grip. "What exactly are we doing here? This plan of yours, what is it exactly? Why are they inside and we're not?" "You're not going to like it!" he said in a serious voice. Elena felt alarmed by his words. "What are you planning?" she demanded, making her voice sound hard. "Look, the thing is, we know what Klaus wants to do. We have a very unexpected ally on our side." Elena didn't like the sound of that. "An unexpected ally? Who?" But she already knew. The only person, who could possibly have told them what Klaus planning was HER. "Rebekah?" she asked, not wanting it to be true. They just couldn't be so stupid to trust her. Stefan sighed.

"Yeah. Look, I know she isn't your favorite person right now. But guess who's not hers? Klaus put a dagger in her for, I don't know, the thousands time. She has no intention of helping him, what so ever." "And you trust her?" "What alternative do we have? We have to get Caroline, tonight and she is the only person who can help us! Believe me, if we don't trust Rebekah, the next few days, weeks maybe, will be more than unpleasant for Caroline."

"Come on, as if he would truly hurt her. Doesn't he have like a thing for her?" "Well, obviously he's over it. He made Rebekah his personal torturer. He hopes that an opportunity to hurt Caroline would be enough to get her back on his side. " "Well, one can see his point! It sounds exactly like the kind of thing Rebekah would do!"

"She won't, Elena. Klaus has left her with Caroline the whole day, and Caroline is still perfectly…" "WHAT?" Elena yelled incredulously. "So, let me get this straight. Rebekah had Caroline the whole day. She had the opportunity to bring her back at any time but still she didn't. That's the person that you trust?" Elena just didn't get it. How could he stay so calm, how could he actually trust her? "Calm down alright or do you want everything to blow up in our faces, before we even started?! She didn't take Caroline back, because I told her not to. And before you start yelling again, let me explain. As we already know, Klaus has compelled Tyler to stay in Mystic Falls and he seems to have huge holes in his memory, from the moment he went off to instruct the hybrids. Why do you think Caroline has left Tyler's house the other night? You know she would never leave his side, when Klaus is out there, planning his revenge. My guess is he compelled her as well, and from what Rebekah told me, I take that he has not only compelled her to leave Tyler but also to drink the poison and not to fight him or Rebekah. You see he could have used vervain to poison her but then he won't be able to compel her anymore. Rebekah told me, that she didn't even try to leave the house once, even when Rebekah left it."

"So? Rebekah's an Original too. Why doesn't she just compel her to leave and go home?" Elena asked, not really getting the problem. "Do you still not get how compulsion works? She can't undo something Klaus had planted in Caroline's head. So if Rebekah tries to convince her or makes a move, to let Caroline think she's on her side, it is very possible, Caroline is going to inform Klaus. We don't know how far his compulsion goes and what exactly he had told her to do or not to do, same goes for Tyler by the way. That's why I told him to stay home and made him drink some vervain and…" Stefan got interrupted by an ironical dark, melodic voice, coming from the entrance of the mansion. "Yeah, good thinking, Brother! Too bad he came anyway. You know, vervain does undo compulsion just as well as more compulsion does. You know, not at all. How about next time you don't take any assignments and let me do the job."

Damon stepped out of the shadow. Stefan looked at him angrily. "Your suggestion was to kill him!" Damon smirked. "Exactly, a plan that I still strongly recommend." Stefan looked from Damon to Elena, who seemed mesmerized by his words. "Don't say this in front of her. Do you want her to go inside, blow up the whole plan and kill Tyler?" Damon sighed. He looked straight into Elena's eyes and took a few more steps into her direction. "I don't want you to do anything reckless; DON'T kill anyone, that can't be revived. Or at least not tonight. It would make me very unhappy!" Then he turned back to Stefan. "Satisfied?" he asked mockingly. "Now, come on. I found an entrance, where he won't sense, see or hear you coming. At least as long as you're quiet." He shot a glance in Elena's direction. "It's a storage room in the back, you wait there for the witches and have the white oak stake ready!" Elena looked at both brothers intently, not getting what was going on. "Wait. Witches, the stake? What's going on?" She stood still, refusing to walk towards an unknown plan. "Elena look.." Damon began. "YOU insisted on coming here. I could have easily sent you home, which I will do, if you try to do anything…." "It's Bonnie, isn't it? What is the plan? Damon, I swear to God, if she gets hurt…" "She won't!" said Stefan, "I won't let her. But yes Elena, we need her and what we're trying to do is very risky. But I promise to do anything to protect her." Damon rolled his eyes. "Of course, god forbid anything happens to your little witchy friend. Now, come on, we fill you in on the way."

And they did. She had to admit it was a good plan, simple, solid but as they had said, risky. There were a lot of things that could go wrong with this plan and Elena's biggest concern was still Rebekah, whose part in this was much too big for Elena's taste.

**Thank you everyone for your reviews. I would like to hear some of your ideas, something you really want to happen? And yes, it's going to be Klaus and Caroline again in the next Chapter and it's going to be intense. Please, review. I'm alway thrilled to read your opinions. **


	10. Chapter 10 - Hate to love -

**Chapter 10 - Hate to love - **

He stood next to her, feeling her tension, wishing to just go away, but he didn't dare to leave her standing here, all alone, exposed and ready to get rescued by someone, who was stupid and brave enough to try. Not that she could actually run away, he had told her not to, so she wouldn't. But he felt her horror pressing on him. Not being able to resist the temptation any longer, he glanced sideways at her, studying her profile. What was to stop him enjoying her as long as she was around? His eyes wandered from her long lashed eyes, which were staring wide into emptiness, along the curve of her perfect nose and stopped at her lips that were trembling softly. She seemed to feel his gaze, as she came back to reality.

Slowly the beautiful blonde turned to look at him. Their gazes locked, he felt like he was been pulled into her eyes. He had to get out of here, before these stupid, useless feelings destroyed his own plans. But it was like she was paralyzing him with her frightened blue eyes. She didn't cry this time and he knew she probably wouldn't until the actual pain of dying would make her. Normally he found satisfaction in the thought of inducing pain and was able to relish in his plans, imagining the agony he would put his victim through. Not this time. The thought of her blue eyes filling with tears and the realization of her own body dying didn't give him any pleasure. It horrified him and he felt an irrational anger at the person, who would put her through it, before he realized, that it was going to be him. It had to be him and it had to be her. While he was staring into her eyes, not able to control his facial expressions, feeling way too confused, she began to speak, softly, calmly.

"I get it now." She said matter of factly. "You took his mother, his father is already dead and he doesn't have any family left. So it has to be me. I get it."

_Stop talking_, he thought desperately, but he couldn't find the voice or the actual will to make her. Her voice was just too sweet. "I'm just surprised about myself, you know. I actually hadn't imagined… that." Her voice broke and she finally looked away, down to the floor. Then she began again. "I thought, you might hurt me, to hurt him. But I wasn't even sure of that. I just … How could I have actually thought, that you might actually…"

_Don't let her get to you. She's playing you. She always is, trying to toy with your emotions, using the only thing that makes you weak. You are not weak, not for her, not for anyone or anything. Make her shut up! _

But he couldn't. He felt the desperate need of explaining himself to her, making her understand. It was stupid, of course. After all, he had just told her that she was going to die, just told her that he himself was going to kill her. Why should it matter what she thought about him right now? But it did.

"You know very well it has nothing to do with you, sweetheart." He said in the coolest voice he could manage. "I would actually prefer not to see you die. But all of you and of course your boyfriend, you really don't leave me a choice. I have a reputation you know? A reputation that I have spent many hundreds of years to build up and I have to live up to it. I can't really let my enemies think that all it takes is a nice smile and a pair of innocent eyes to weaken me."

She laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Like I said, it really isn't your fault. You act the way you always have. I am the stupid one, the one who thought, that I actually am that one thing that could weaken you."

Klaus drew in a sharp breath, he didn't really need. The pureness of her confession caught him off guard. Now that he had sentenced her to death, she opened up to him? He didn't need this right now, couldn't have her talk to him that way. "Well, we all make mistakes, I guess." He managed to answer sharply. She didn't respond. Instead she turned around and waved at a waiter, who came running to hand her a glass, filled with red wine. He watched her as she slowly placed the glass at her lips. It was mesmerizing, watching the dark red liquid touching her pink lips and her eyes close as she indulged in the last few good things life had to give her.

Suddenly he was filled with pure desire. Just to kiss those lips once, just to feel her hands on his body, voluntarily touching his skin. It was painful to picture it and he knew he shouldn't but he couldn't help it. No matter what he told her, no matter what he told himself, killing her would be the most difficult thing he ever had to do. Not because she was too strong, she was a baby, she had no real strength, compared to him. It would be difficult, because he would have to kill a big part of himself.

It was at that moment, that Klaus finally realized, that he wasn't simply in love with her but that he actually loved her. Strangely this realization actually made him WANT to kill her. He didn't want to feel this way. It had been stupid, playing with his own humanity like this for months, testing how far he could actually go. For so long he had loved no one, except for his own family, which he also hated. And he hated Caroline as well. He hated her for making him weak; he hated her for making him love her. And most of all he hated her for not loving him back.

Tyler had watched them, as they had danced. A tango, _how cheesy_, he had thought. God, he absolutely loathed him for touching her this way. Every time his hands had found her bare skin, he had felt ready to lunge at him, tearing his throat out. But he couldn't. At least now he knew why. Compulsion. That bastard had compelled him, so he wasn't able to lift a finger to hurt him. It had been pure agony, watching that beautiful angel in this demon's arms. The worst part was that Caroline had actually seemed as if she was enjoying it, dancing with him. Could that actually be true? Maybe he had compelled her to play along, to make Tyler jealous. _Or maybe, she actually likes his touch, _a mean little voice in the back of his mind was saying. No, she didn't. She wouldn't fall for this monster, he knew it. Klaus just wanted him to think she would. He probably enjoyed having her at his mercy and watching him suffer, while he couldn't do a thing about it.

He stared at them now, as they were standing across the room. As much as he strained to hear what they were saying, he couldn't catch it. They were simply to quiet and probably deliberately so. What had she been laughing about? How could she laugh, while being held hostage by a man, who wanted to torture and probably kill her boyfriend? And the way they stared at each other. If Klaus was trying to drive him insane, he was slowly succeeding. Then he watched as Klaus was taking Caroline by the hand and leading her away, out of his sight and out of the room. Without consciously deciding it, he was following them, when he felt a hard grip holding him back. "Don't even think about it!" Damon's menacing voice growled. Then he pushed Tyler back and dragged him along, away from the ballroom but in the opposite direction, Klaus and Caroline had taken.


	11. Chapter 11 - Surprises -

**Chapter 11 - Surprises - **

Damon felt irritated. All of this just didn't fit into his plans at all. He should be out with Jeremy, killing vampires, finding the cure, giving it to Elena and finally finding out, whether her feelings for him were real or not. Instead he had to put up with that junior hybrid and his epic Klaus execution fail. _Idiots, all of_ _them_, he thought while he shoved the unconscious Tyler into the little bathroom on the second floor of the mansion. He hadn't been easy to fight, with all of his rage and wolf strength, but a little wolfspain mixed with vervain, injected into his arm had done the trick. He only hoped he had injected enough to make him sleep long, so he wouldn't get caught up in the middle of their little witchy plan. Now he had to perform his primary exercise this evening, distraction. Since they didn't have Caroline to play this part, Damon was the one to distract that damned Original, so he wouldn't be at his most observant. He made his way down the stairs again, following the voices he had been listening to intently for the past few minutes. He forced himself to really listen to what they were saying now.

"I still don't get it! What are we doing here?" he heard Caroline say. "Be patient, love. It's not going to be long now. She will be here any minute." "Who?" Caroline whispered, sounding weird and defeated. "Rebekah?"

_Well, I wouldn't bet on that_, Damon thought amused. The witches had arrived a few minutes ago and were just waiting to get close to Klaus. Elena was ready to get Caroline out of there as soon as she got the chance and Rebekah and Stefan were just waiting for Damon's ok to go in. That's when he heard it, the sentence that changed everything.

"No, not her. I mean, she might arrive as well, but maybe your friends got to her, you know." Damon froze outside in the hallway. "Isn't that right, Damon?" Klaus asked loudly, showing that he knew exactly, who was standing just outside the closed door. Damon didn't know what to do. He went with his gut, partly because he was just too damn curious about Klaus' plan. So he opened the door, not entering the huge bedroom, just standing there, facing the big bad hybrid. Caroline slowly turned toward him. The look in her eyes was neither desperate nor frightened, more like, resigned." Hey Blondie." Damon greeted the blonde vampire, who was looking just about perfect tonight in her red dress. He smiled at her encouragingly. He didn't know what else to do, as long as he didn't know whether their whole plan was doomed or not. Klaus' grin suggested it was.

Caroline turned back to Klaus. "So, who's coming?" Klaus' grin widened. Damon felt a presence behind hm. Caroline seemed to feel it too, because he saw her back stiffen. "Hey Damon" he heard a familiar purring voice behind him. His spirits sank. He knew that voice far too well. He didn't turn around. He heard her heels knocking on the floor as she slowly walked passed him, walking into the room, gently caressing his hand with one finger, while she entered. Though she was basically Elena on the exterior, her devilish smile, the deeper, seductive tone of her voice and her curly hairdo made it easy to see her, as who she was. Not Elena, but the little bitch, he had once loved and come to hate so much. _Katherine! _

"Ah, Katarina. So good to have you." Klaus smiled at Katherine. Damon felt paralyzed_. No, not her_. Why was she always the one to cause the worst trouble, when no one expected her.

Caroline looked confused. "Wait, don't you two hate each other?" She asked, looking from Klaus to Katherine and back again. "Now, sweetheart. Hate is such a strong word. But I admit that we had our disagreements." Klaus answered mockingly. "Which will all be resolved after I handled you for him." Katherine purred, cupping Caroline's chin and grinning viciously.

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen." Another voice called. Damon wasn't always happy to hear his brother's voice, but right know he was thrilled to hear it and even more so, when he heard Rebekah add "I have to say I am not very excited about my replacement, Nick."

Klaus didn't seem to sense any kind of danger as he snapped back "Well, I would have rather had you do it, but you seem to have gotten a better offer!" He then looked back at Katherine. "Where's Tyler?" "Upstairs. Damon was so kind to catch and lock him for us!" she turned around and smiled innocently at Damon.

"And where might the lovely Elena be tonight?" Klaus asked conversationally, looking at Stefan.

_So he doesn't know. Not everything at least. _Before Stefan could say anything, Damon decided to take over the situation. He always felt more confident, when he had control over lies and schemes. "Come on Klaus, you don't really think I would let her come." Damon asked in a voice that he tried to make sound as casual as possible. "Ah yes, the sire bond. Well, do you care to share your little rescue plan or do you still want to try." Klaus asked politely. Damon smiled. "I think we rather show you." he answered and looked at Stefan. Just as Stefan opened his mouth to whisper his "now!" to the witches, Katherine interrupted. "You don't really think it will work, do you?" she asked Stefan. Stefan looked at her angrily for a long moment, before talking. "Well, you obviously don't, or you wouldn't be on his side." Katherine's smug expression faded and a half apologetic, half saddened expression took its place. "I don't want to run anymore. I helped with one of your plans before, remember? It didn't turn out too well for me then. I'm tired of moving around all the time. So, when one of the last few remaining hybrids of Klaus came to offer me a deal, I accepted." She then turned back to face Klaus again. "And I actually happen to know exactly what they're planning." She said, grinning wickedly. "I have to say it's actually a good plan. If they hadn't failed so often before, I would have thought it might just work."

Klaus looked at her, smiling, not seeming curious at all. Caroline seemed simply confused, not getting anything. Before Katherine opened her mouth again, Damon cut in. "What do you need her for anyway, Klaus? Yeah, I know your little torture plan. But if you don't have the guts to do it yourself, why do you even want to? Just kill that little Tyler boy. I am perfectly okay with that. But I have to say, I'm not too thrilled with the idea of Caroline dying. After all we have a history. And with Tyler out of the way, you might have a better shot with little Blondie over there." He nodded towards Caroline. He felt Stefan's angry glare at his back, but he didn't care. He just had to make Klaus think, he didn't need Katherine, to maybe kill her on the spot, maybe, before she could reveal their plan.

Unfortunately, Klaus seemed to see right through his desperate attempts. "If you don't mind, I'd rather stick to my plan. Now, Katarina. Thank you for the offer to enlighten me, but I have to admit I haven't fully trusted you, either. So I had one of my few hybrids spying in Mystics Falls, looking around the mansion and listen in to the conversations of this lot." He said, smiling dangerously at Stefan. "So, if you don't want me to kill sweet Caroline right here and now, I suggest you hand over the stake you are hiding in your jacket."

_NO! _Damon thought. It couldn't be true. He doesn't know everything. He knows about the stake, so what. They still had a chance. They had to try! Before anyone could move, he whispered. "Elena, now!" and he felt a gust of wind, passing him. He could only make out dark hair and smelled the scent of lavender that always came with her presence. Elena got to Caroline, before Klaus could make one move, but Damon had forgotten about Elena's wicked look alike, who was essentially Elena only hundreds of years older, having the same abilities as Elena, such as her amazing new speed, only a hundred times magnified. He blinked and saw Katherine holding Elena by the neck with both hands, her intention very clear. Then, in one swift movement, she broke her neck. Elena's limb body fell to the floor. Damon felt helpless fury building up inside him but he resisted the instinct to lunge at Katherine, knowing he didn't stand a chance against her.

She looked pleased. "I always wanted to do THAT!" she admitted, batting her large brown eyes innocently. She then turned on her heels again and walked back over to Klaus, who was holding Caroline by the arms. "Sooo, if you know about their plan. Tell me what we're going to do about those witches?!" she asked casually, looking at her perfectly manicured nails. She tried to play it cool, but it was obvious to Damon that she was still terrified by the strong Original who had spent hundreds of years hunting her. Klaus, who had been glaring angrily at Damon over Caroline's shoulder, seemed to lighten up. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I have already taken care of them!" he confessed, smiling his evil smile.


	12. Chapter 12 - Regret -

**Chapter 12 - Regret - **

The fire in front of him was burning brightly. He liked old fashioned fire places like this. Mesmerized by the dancing flames, he was going through the events of the previous evening in his head. He had been lucky, lucky that his enemies hadn't been very careful with their secret conversations, lucky that he actually still had some sired hybrids, to use. Their plan had been solid; he had to give them that. They had been ready to do anything to get Caroline back, even risk that witch's death. Still it had been his plan that had worked out in the end. But he didn't feel any triumph, only pain. He heard the little moan from upstairs, where she was still resting. He winced, as he thought for the reason of her exhaustion.

Capturing the twelve witches that had more or less secretly come to his house had been tricky but his three loyal hybrids had done a good job. After he and Katarina had made sure, that Damon, Stefan, Rebekah and the temporally dead Elena had been tied up with vervain ropes next to Tyler, who Katarina carried down to the large bedroom, Klaus had gone to handle his visitors. In the little storage room, they had stood, tied to each other with ropes. His hybrids had made sure to draw the necessary runes around them with chalk to contain their magic. A full coven, twelve witches. They had been the master plan. Eleven witches from outside Mystic Falls plus one familiar one. Bonnie Bennett. Klaus understood the whole plan very well. The magic of twelve witches was one of the most powerful things in the world, even powerful enough to weaken him, the Original hybrid, maybe even kill him. The plan had been to use them to weaken him and then put a powerful spell on him and the stake, which would bind him to it, turning his body to be as hard as the stake inside him, without killing him. Klaus knew that a full cove of witches were unimaginably strong and if they'd have had the element of surprise, they actually might have suceeded.

He had killed them right then. All of them, except one. He had almost killed the Bennett witch as well, but had realized in time that he still needed her for the cure hunt.

He had then returned to the bedroom, taking Bonnie with him, leaving his hybrids to dispose of the eleven bodies. Katarina had guarded Caroline and her friends in his absence. He had personally tied up Bonnie next to her friends but released Tyler from his ropes. His plans had included only himself, Caroline, Tyler and Katherine. So he had left the room with those three and headed down the stairs, towards the cellar of the mansion, while the party upstairs continued. He had felt full of rage and bloodthirsty.

Klaus shuttered at the memory of what had happened next, her pained eyes haunting him, while he was sitting there, sipping at his glass of scotch.

He had entered the cellar and compelled Tyler to keep his eyes open at every minute, told him not to run, not to look away. Then he had told Katarina to begin, while not being able to take his own eyes from Caroline's beautiful face. He had asked himself right then, if he could do it, really hurt her? But he had known from the start that he couldn't. That had been the reason for Katarina's appearance. She had been invited by him to do the things to Caroline he knew he couldn't do himself. If he had only realized, that the plan that had been meant to torture Tyler would affect him the same way, even worse. Caroline had been already quite weak, because neither Klaus nor Rebekah had given her any blood the whole day. So she hadn't put up a fight, when Katarina had tied her to a chair. As the vervain ropes burned into her skin, she had screamed, a sound which had immediately cut through Klaus' insides and weakened his rage. Tyler had screamed as well, insulting him and Katarina but not being able to look away, because of Klaus' compulsion. Klaus had shortly considered compelling Caroline not to scream at her pain, but then the torment for Tyler would have had only been half as bad. So he had just decided to leave the room, leave the cellar.

He had gone back up to the party, her screams from the cellar following him, because of his supernatural hybrid hearing. He had been drinking a lot and feeding even more, trying to block her out, when through her screams and whimpers he had heard it, his name. She had been whispering his name, sobbing. He had heard her pleading, "Klaus, please. Please, make it stop." And he had frozen. His heart which had already felt sore from her almost unbearable cries had felt like it was being ripped out of his chest. He had heard it again. "Please, it hurts, god, it hurts, make it stop. Klaus! Please!" And then he had run. He had run down the stairs and into the room, where his personal nightmare had awaited him. Caroline had been sitting there, her red dress wet from her own blood, her blue ring had been lying in the middle of the room and Katarina had been sitting in front of her, holding a strange kind of lamp that seemed to shine artificial sunlight directly at Caroline's face, which was contorted into a grimace of agony, burning slowly. On the floor he had seen a wooden stake, stained in blood, Caroline's blood and in Katarina's hand he had seen a bottle with some liquid, supposably vervain. Her face had been wet with tears and her blonde hair clinging to her forehead. Tyler had looked as exhausted as her, tears streaming down his face as well. Klaus had felt absolutely paralyzed for a moment. He hadn't been able to process this, he still couldn't. And then she had looked at him directly, her blue eyes pleading and full of pain. "Please." She had said one last time, before giving up and shutting her eyes.

He couldn't remember much after this, only how he had run to her, pulling away the burning ropes with his bare hands, burning himself, desperate to help her. Then, without looking at Katarina or at Tyler, he had taken her into his arms and had run.

Now he didn't know what to do or what to think. The only thing that was repeating over and over in his head were her screams and her, whispering his name. "Klaus."

Yes! Klaus, the answer to the question who he hated the most in this world right now. He couldn't stand himself. _What have I done?_ A horrified voice in his head asked crazily. He didn't know, what had happened to him. He must have gone mad. He had actually planned to torture her, to kill her even. The mere thought sickened him right now.

Caroline didn't want to wake up, too afraid of what might happen to her, as soon as she was awake. The previous night had been awful, though it hadn't really been the physical pain that had been the worst but the other one. She still couldn't believe that he had actually done it, left her alone with that bitch who had killed her once. She was convinced that Katherine would have gladly done it again, ending her immortal life just as easily, as she had ended her mortal life. But it wasn't Katherine who had put her through the great pain that she was still feeling. She had been tortured before, more than once even. She had thought that Klaus might actually care for her, she had believed it. Though she had never giving into him, the knowledge of being the one person who was save from him had made her feel almost invincible and something else she couldn't explain with words. Had she liked it? The thought of him falling in love with her? The most powerful creature of the planet in love with her. Had that been it?

She didn't want to think about it anymore, it wasn't true anyway. He had hurt her. It didn't matter that it hadn't been his own hands that had done it. He had wanted her to suffer and maybe he still did. She didn't really know, what she should make of his rescue.

Caroline's thoughts were interrupted by a soft knockon the door. She immediately sat up straight, expecting more horror. When she didn't answer, the door slowly opened. He didn't enter though, just looked at her from the threshold. She wasn't able to tear her eyes away from him, not knowing what she should feel right then. After what seemed like a very long time, he began to speak.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, not showing any sign of emotion, good or bad. She didn't answer, just continued staring at him. His glance dropped to his feet and he continued talking, looking at the floor. "I… I wanted to tell you how sorry I am. I don't know what had gotten into me. I never thought that I could ever hurt you or let anybody else hurt you. I was just so blinded by my rage. I wanted him to suffer… and…" he shook his head helplessly, not looking at her. "and I know that you might never forgive me. I'd understand that and I deserve it. You will be allowed to leave, as soon as the vervain, Katarina made you drink, is out of your system." At the last sentence Caroline came to life. "Why? What does it have to do with vervain?" She was very confused. Klaus looked at her, seeming surprised by her reaction. "I thought your friends might have told you yesterday, while I was dealing with their witchy assassins." "Told me what?" She didn't understand what he was talking about. Klaus took a deep breath before answering. "I compelled you, love. I didn't want to take any chances. I compelled you, so you wouldn't try to run away or do something to destroy my plan. Another thing I have to ask you for forgiveness for." Now she understood. As Klaus was bathing in selfhatred, or maybe just pretending to, Caroline decided on her next move quickly. Before Klaus could stop her she had gotten hold of a paper knife that was laying on a nearby desk and cut both her wrists deeply. As she was moving it towards her throat, Klaus reached her and pinned her to the bed. "What are you doing?" he screamed in her face, clearly panicked and confused. Caroline stayed completely calm, trying to ignore his hands on her shoulders and the weight of his body on hers and failing completely. She was too aware of his closeness and unfortunatly not in the right way, not like pray is aware of a predator, of its killer, but in a weird, breathless way. But she managed too keep her cool exterior, not wanting to show any more signs of weakness, and answered in a low and simple voice. "Bleeding the vervain from my system, so you can compel me sooner."

**I know that some of you might really hate the fact, that I let Klaus go so far but I don't want him to become soft and puppylike. He doesn't want to be weak and Caroline makes him weak and has made a fool of him. In my story his powerful dark side is fighting with the light that Caroline slowly brings to the surface. **

**aaaand... please review :) really interested in what you think about this chapter. **


	13. Chapter 13 - The evil three -

** Chapter 13 - The evil three -**

**Since the last chapter was a little longer than usual, here a short one, that shows what some of the others think about the Klaroline thing and also shows their motivations. **

"Nick, where are you? Answer your phone, dammit!" Rebekah snapped into her phone. "Voicemail, I take it?!" Damon asked. He was bored, fed up with all of them. Rebekah looked at him, angrily. "It's your friend he has as his little play thing, not mine!" she hissed.

"What's the deal with those two anyway?" a lazy voice asked from the back of Klaus' mansion. They hadn't left the mansion ever since, Klaus had run away the previous night, taking Caroline with him. Stefan, Bonnie and Elena had just left for Rebekah's house, not really believing he would turn up there, but not wanting to waste a chance to catch Caroline. Katherine walked slowly towards Rebekah and Damon, looking every step like a lioness, beautiful, calm but deadly. "The one minute he wants me to torture her and the next he's running away with her? Did I miss anything?"

Damon didn't want to talk to her right now. She had ruined everything, as usual. Still he couldn't help himself; he had to comment on her lack of interest in the matters, she was involved in. "Well, evil one. Tell me. Why do you think YOU had you do it for him, and before you, Rebekah? Did it ever occur to you to ask him?" Katherine turned away from him, towards the bottle of Whiskey. She took her time to pour the stuff into her glass and looking at it, considering his question, it seemed. Then she said in the most bored voice. "I didn't really care, then. If you had spent 500 years running from him, would you question him, if he offered you your freedom?!" Damon blinked and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's what I thought!" said Katherine, triumphantly. Then she went on, asking Rebekah now. "So, your brother has an eye on Caroline, hm? Well I guess then I have earned my freedom already. I turned her, you know. I gave her an edge. She was annoying before, even more than now." Rebekah laughed. "Honestly, I don't know what he sees in her. Well at least, he's not pathetically holding on to a doppelganger, like Elijah and him", she nodded towards Damon, "and Stefan. Elijah wants Tatia, those two want you. Klaus is the only one smart enough not to repeat his own history over and over again." She gave an evil grin and looked from Katherine to Damon, who was looking really angry now. She had to admit, he looked hot, when he was scowling at her like this. He was so intense, impulsive and hot. But he had hurt her and was head over heels for every single girl out of Tatias bloodline. Rebekah sighed. _Too bad, really_.

"Why do YOU want to help get Caroline back, anyway?" asked Damon her now, with a doubtful expression in his eyes. _He still doesn't trust me, _she thought."I told you already. I'm done, doing what he says! He had daggered me one time too often, for my taste!" she explained. "Yeah, that did explain why you helped with the witch plan, but why do you want Caroline back?" _God, it's not that hard, really. You might be pretty but sometimes you're not that bright. _She had to laugh at her own thoughts. Damon raised his eyebrows at her, questioningly. But before she could answer, Katherine did it for her. "Come on, Damon. It's obvious!" she said. "She blames her big brother for every single bad thing that happened to her, for driving away her boyfriends, Stefan and that hunter. Yeah I heard about him. Elijah told me." She explained, grinning at Rebekah. "So now, like the childish teenage girl, she is, she wants to pay him back by driving Caroline away from him." Damon's face had lid up in a bright grin which he now directed at Rebekah. "That's the best motive I heard in a long time." He laughed, clearly agreeing with Katherine on her childishness. "He deserves it! Why should he be happy, after he has taken everything from me, again and again!" she shouted at him. It made him shut up.

"Weeelll, I don't think we you have to worry about anything like him getting her. Not after what I did to her, for HIM!" Katherine purred, clearly enjoying the memory. Damon looked at her disgustedly. If it hadn't been Caroline, who he had come to respect so much for her personal growth during the last year, he wouldn't care at all. But Caroline has really become someone, had developed an actual powerful personality. She wasn't the girl, he had once used as his own personal toy. Rebekah might not understand what Klaus saw in her, but Damon most certainly did. _She really is something._ He thought, touching his right fang with one finger, remembering the taste of human Caroline's blood. His fang extended immediately. Yes, she had been tasty. He should have known back then, what a person she could be. But he couldn't think anymore now, not with the memory of her warm, human blood. "I'm gonna get a blood bag from downstairs." He informed the two 'girls', who were glaring at each other. Rebekah immediately got up. "I'll go with you." She said. Katherine gave a fake cough and rolled her eyes. "Cut it out. It hurts to even watch you pathetic need for attention." _Uh, she should not have said that! _Damon thought, and sure enough the next thing he heard was a loud bang as Rebekah threw Katherine hard against the wall. He left the room, leaving them to their little catfight, knowing it wouldn't really be much of a fight with Katherine so much weaker than the blonde Original. his thoughts were foccussed on Caroline and her weird non- relationship with Klaus.


	14. Chapter 14 - Predator and prey -

**Chapter 14 - Predator and prey -**

After he had bandaged her up, Klaus had convinced Caroline, with great effort, to put down the knife and just wait, until he could compel her or better, undo his previous compulsion, which forbid her to leave him. She hadn't wanted to give in, until he had given her his word that he would free her, as soon as possible. Before, she had requested that he would go with her, but he had refused, not wanting to face the others. He had explained this by telling her they would only make him angry again. It had been something like a threat, but it had been the only thing that worked. She didn't want him angry around her friends, around Tyler. While he was walking downstairs, to get the almost starving Caroline someone of the staff to drink from, he admitted to himself, that his rage wasn't the reason, why he didn't want to go back with her. He just wanted to spend a little more time with her, have her all to himself, even if she hated him right now. As he wandered the hallway of this gigantic mansion, he admired it once again. It was a beautiful place and one that none of his siblings or former friends knew of. He had built it all for himself, while all of his siblings had been lying in boxes. It was just as beautiful as the original Mikaelson mansion but it was a better place to stay, because no vampire could enter it, unless he had been invited. The official owner of this home was a strict, intelligent but kind hearted woman. Only she wasn't an ordinary woman.

"Who is she?" Klaus heard a hard voice ask behind him. He turned to look at the woman, whose skin was dark and beautiful. Her eyes glistened with suspicion. Klaus smiled. He knew her far too well too be scared of her. But still, he had a healthy amount of respect. It would be stupid not to. Because the woman standing in front of him was a 113 year old witch. The power of her magic could be easily seen, once one knew this age and compared it to her appearance. She didn't look older than maybe 50, a young 50.

"Did you not hear me? I asked you a question!" the dark haired woman demanded firmly. She always seemed so strict and maternal; Klaus often forgot that he was ten times her age. "I heard you just fine." He replied, still smiling. "Her name is Caroline. She is…" but he didn't know how to finish that sentence. How could he describe someone like Caroline? She is… beautiful, smart, witty, a good friend, a loyal lover, as pure as an angel, light, everything…. "She's a friend of mine." He finally decided weakly. "Why are your friends always unconscious?" the witch asked, now smiling as well. "Well…" Klaus began and then just shrugged. The witch, whose name was Adusa, laughed shortly, and then changed back to control mode, as she asked "So, what do you need? Or should I ask who?" she asked, not looking judgingly while saying it. It was the thing Klaus liked most about this woman. She didn't judge, she understood his nature and accepted it. Not his killing, not his bloodthirst, but the basic nature of a vampire.

"I thought maybe the young girl of the gardener?" Klaus asked. He wanted someone young for her, someone fresh, pure and beautiful. "I'll go out and get her, but Klaus, make it gentle. Tell your little girlfriend to be good to her." Klaus nodded. He had no intention of hurting the innocent teenage girl and he knew for a fact, Caroling would never willingly hurt a creature like her.

Caroline was starving. Her fangs were sore and her throat was burning from the inside. She hadn't fed for almost two days now. _Where is he? I'm only dying up here. Maybe this is his new strategy, making me believe I am save and then let me starve to death! _She thought bitterly. _That's it, I'll go and look for him_! She had almost reached the bedroom door, when she heard footsteps, Klaus's and … a human's. Then she heard her heartbeat. The scent of human blood, running fresh under beautiful veins made her head swim. She hadn't tasted fresh blood for a very long time. She was used to blood bags and as long as she was well fed, she could stand the smell of humans and the sound of their beating hearts without ripping them apart and draining them. But now, now she was hungry. Her fangs extended to their maximum, as she heard the human approach. The door opened and Klaus entered. But unlike usual, Caroline did not react to his presence. She barley even noticed him, because all her senses were tuned on the slender girl he held by the hand. The girl was very pretty and about 15 years old. She had blonde hair, almost the exact same color as Caroline's own and her eyes were blue, but a little more pure blue. Caroline had often heard that her own eyes changed color, from a deep blue to light blue and grey and sometimes green. It had always made her feel special. This girl had very blue eyes and innocent ones. She had white, creamy skin and looked very soft and angelic, the way she stood in front of her in her silky white dress, showing no signs of fear. _Is she compelled? What is she doing here? I'm starving and he has nothing better to do, than bringing me a human to torture my senses? _Now Caroline realized, this girl was for her, her "meal". But she couldn't, she didn't feed on people, didn't drain the blood from their veins herself. She had sustained herself on blood bags; as good as she could manage. But this girl smelled amazing. Fresh, juicy, so human.

Caroline wasn't sure what to do. She shot a questioning look to Klaus, her fangs still extended to very sharp ends, which were denting in her lower lip. Klaus stared into her eyes, which she felt sting, as the hunger fought its way up to them. She felt the veins under her eyes thicken. He smiled at her, seeming pleased by her obvious response to the girl, he had brought her. He now turned towards the girl to talk in his calm, gentle, compelling voice, which sent electric shivers down Caroline's spine. The girl seemed to enjoy his voice as well, as he said "This is Caroline. There is no need to be afraid. She will feed a little and then I will bring you down, where Adusa is waiting for you with a great meal. Now, sweetheart. Please walk over to Caroline. As you can see she is very hungry." The girl looked at Caroline with a look of compassion in her eyes and without hesitation walked towards her. Caroline just stared at her and focusing more and more on the girls throat, as she approached. She could see the thick vein, pumping live giving, luxurious, warm blood through her veins. The girl came to a stop right in front of her, still looking at Caroline, smiling openly. Her scent was almost overwhelming and she was so beautiful and young. No, she couldn't do it, she did not feed on humans! She looked over the girls shoulder at Klaus and said:

"I don't drink from the vein! I thought you knew that!" Klaus didn't lose his smile. He nodded and answered "I know, love. The thing is, I haven't been here for a long time. I don't have any blood bags here. But I assure you, Amelia is a willing donor. I did not compel her, if that's what you're thinking. The people in this house are more than happy to donate. I give them anything they want in return. She won't scream or anything and I think she likes you."

Caroline had to admit, the girl really seemed comfortable, but she had to make sure. "Are you really okay with this?" she asked unsure. Her fangs were burning more and more by the second. The girl spoke softly. "Yes. Don't worry. I have given blood before." Caroline still hesitated. "Come on." The girl said encouragingly. "You look very hungry. It must be painful". She smiled again with a look in her eyes that was clearly showing worry for Caroline. Then, she laid her head back to expose her throat. It was the last push, Caroline needed. In a swift but soft motion she bowed her head down and pierced the girl's white skin, very carefully. She didn't want to hurt this nice girl. Caroline moaned as the overwhelming taste of warm, pure blood filled her mouth and ran down her throat. The girl held perfectly still, while Caroline quenched her thirst or rather, her hunger. Klaus just observed the scenery of the two beautiful blondes, predator and prey, amazed by this other side to Caroline, by her animal instincts.

**Please review. Really unsure, whether I should continue. Not a lot of feedback recently. Let me know what you think. Thanks :)**


	15. Chapter 15 - Luxury and Teenage girls -

**Chapter 15 - Luxury and Teenage girls - **

She was alone again. The ache in her jar was gone, just as the pressure in her teeth, which had shrunk again, after she had drunk deeply from the pretty, young girl. She had wanted to drink more and she still felt a little ashamed of herself for not being able to disengage herself from the nice girl's throat quite on her own. It had been Klaus who had silently approached the two after a while. The girl had not been struggling, so Caroline had missed the point, where she had been supposed to stop. But Klaus had known. Softly he had touched her shoulder, gently pulling her towards him. At least she had not resisted. His touch had been too distracting and her response to it had been too human to keep concentrate on the animal instincts that made her drink. She still felt his gentle hands on her shoulders, sliding down her arms, softly caressing her, drawing soothing circles on her bare skin. She had been able to feel his warmth through the soft, silky fabric of the dress, she was still wearing now.

Her response to him frightened her. He had left the room with the girl, whose wound was bleeding, explaining to Caroline, he would take care of her and later try compulsion on Caroline. While Caroline was sitting on the bed, her arms wrapped around her body, not knowing what to make of Klaus, of his earlier violent plans and his sudden gentleness and open regret, the door opened. A tall woman with black hair, dark skin and intelligent brown eyes entered. She stood for a while, not talking, just taking in Caroline's appearance. Then she smiled. It was an open, heartily smile and Caroline instantly knew that it wasn't false or forced, but genuine.

"I brought you something else to wear." She said in a dark, melodic voice. Caroline immediately tasted the air between them with all her senses. _Human. She is human. _But this woman obviously wasn't scared of her, just as Amelia, the blonde girl, hadn't been. "He sent me. He thought you might want to get out of your dress. This one belonged to my daughter." Caroline looked at the material, the woman held in her hands.

"Belonged?" Caroline asked, forgetting any kind of politeness. This woman had lost a child? She felt immediate compassion for this woman, whom she had never met before and for the daughter she had lost. The other woman obviously sensed her thoughts and smiled at her warmly.

"No. It's not like that. She was very old, you know. It was her time." She answered softly. Caroline was astonished by that answer. What did she mean by that? This woman was probably about 45 to 50 years old. How could she think her daughter had been old enough to die? Caroline realized too late that she was staring at the woman, who laughed at the expression on her face.

"I'm a witch, my dear. I seem much younger, than I actually am. It's one of the few advantages we have. You see, my husband was human and my genes skipped a generation. My granddaughter is a witch as well, but my daughter wasn't. She died 5 years ago of heart failure. She was 79 years old. She has had a large wardrobe. This dress is one she wore in her youth. It's very timeless. She was about your size, I think and she had an excellent taste. I would give you one of my dresses, but Klaus said you aren't as tall as me. I think this one will fit just fine."

Caroline couldn't believe it. She had heard of very old witches of course, who lived an extraordinary long life, because of their powers. From Bonnie she had heard, that the more power a witch had, the longer she would live. Bonnie had heard this from her grandmother. So the woman standing in front of Caroline now was obviously not only a witch, but probably the most powerful witch, she had ever met, except for Esther maybe.

"Come on now. My granddaughter prepared a bath for you. Come with me. You can get ready and dressed. Klaus awaits you downstairs, when you're done" the dark woman said in a tone, that demanded attention. She then led Caroline out of the room, across the beautifully lit hallway and into the largest and most luxurious bathroom, Caroline had ever seen. The room was full of candles and on its right waited a large tub, full of steamy hot water and scented bubbled. Next to it stood a dark wooden chair, where a red, fluffy towel and a white robe were placed. The older woman now placed the soft, yellow dress; she had been holding on to another chair of the same sort and turned towards the door.

"Enjoy your bath my dear. Take as much time, as you need, and call me, if you need something. I hope you're not hungry anymore?!" Caroline blushed. No, she wasn't hungry. The kindness of this woman, mixed with her clear authority made her feel very young, like a child in the presence of her grandmother. "Thank you, I'm fine. But there's one thing. I'd like to know your name." Caroline answered shyly, but determined. She was very curious about this woman and wanted to know more about her, starting with her name. The woman looked at her, unsmiling, probably contemplating her motives. Finally she smiled again and said. "My name is Adusa." Then she quickly left the room, leaving Caroline with her thoughts and her confusion.

The hot water looked very inviting, so she immediately undressed, very happy to finally get out of the rumpled red dress, she had worn at Klaus' mansion and carefully tested the water with her left toe. The temperature was just right. It would have probably been a little too cold for a normal person, a human person. But this bath wasn't drawn for a human. She slid into the tub, enjoying the beautiful scent of the water. She played with the bubbles for a bit, lifting one leg and blowing, so little pieces of foam were flying around. A little bit of it settled on a candle, putting it out. Caroline liked the candles and their indirect smooth light, which did not hurt her sensitive eyes, so she stopped her little game. She then lay back and closed her eyes. Her mind immediately settled on a subject to focus on. Klaus. She didn't understand him. Just yesterday he had been determined to kill her and now… what now? What was his angle, his motive? Was he trying to gain her trust, to get her on his side, maybe? But somehow Caroline knew, this wasn't the case. His apology had seemed so genuine, he had seemed so hurt. She knew, he wasn't trying to manipulate her. So, what was this? The willing blood donors, his nice staff and the beautiful bath?! Was this his way to make it up to her? Make up for his plans of killing her and for his hiring Katherine to torture her? But she just couldn't feel anxious about anything.

The water was nice and was gently relaxing her muscles. The scents of the candles and the beauty of the room were very inviting to all of her senses. She felt very comfortable, and safe, which was kind of stupid, given her situation, but she couldn't help it. Then she realized something. _I don't have any fresh underwear._ She was sure that the witch had only held one piece of clothing in her hands. It was an embarrassing thought, to go down in the yellow dress, without any panties or a bra. It was kind of funny that this thought was able to make her feel uneasy, when nothing else could. _What do I do? I can't go down there to… to him, without underwear. Oh well, I will just have to wear the underwear from before._ She looked at the panties and the bra that were lying on her red dress. Black lace. Black, inappropriate, uncomfortable lace. _Great! _She thought. She was dwelling on this thought, when she heard light footsteps. She recognized them. It was the light steps of the blonde girl, Amelia. She then heard a soft knock on the door and after she had made sure her whole body was covered in bubbles said "Come in."

The girl entered, smiling shyly at Caroline. She was holding something in her hands, something white, underwear! Caroline smiled in relief. The girl seemed encouraged by her smile and said "I brought you some underwear. Adusa told me, she hadn't thought of it. It is mine, I guess it will fit." She then walked over to the chair, on which the yellow dress was lying and put the underwear on top of it. The difference between the outfit on the chair and the one on the floor was immense. Amelia seemed to notice this as well. She looked at the red dress and the black, lacy underwear on the floor and gave a short laugh. Caroline laughed as well. She liked this girl. She obviously thought a lot like her, a teenage girl, who worried about things like the right underwear.

Caroline looked at her gratefully. "Thank you. That's very nice. I think I'm done now." The girl understood. With a last pleased smile, she left the room.


	16. Chapter 16 - Story telling -

**Chapter 16 - Story telling -  
**

When he heard the footsteps, he shot straight up from his seat in front of the large fireplace, where he had been sitting for the last half hour, thinking about one thing and one thing only, her. Now he looked at her, as she made her way toward him, down the stairs. She looked very different from before. The previous night she had looked beautiful and unapproachable in her red dress and perfect hair and make-up. She had looked almost dangerous and very… sexy, he had to admit.

Now she looked simply angelic, which was even more beautiful than the other look. She was wearing a flowing yellow dress that ended just over her knees. Her arms were completely covered with the yellow fabric and her hair flowed open and messy over her shoulders in her trademark light curls. He could smell the scent of her pure and clean skin. She didn't wear any make up. Then he realized a very odd thing. She wasn't wearing any shoes. Her feet were completely bare. He smiled at that, looking at her feet. Caroline stopped. "What's funny?" she demanded. "Oh nothing, love, you just seem to have forgotten your shoes. You know, you're walking on wooden stairs?! I wouldn't want you to get a splinter." She laughed at that. "A vampire with a splinter, yeah, that would be stupid. Why any vampire would want to build a death house, made of so much wood, I don't get!" she said.

"Ah, but then again, normal wood doesn't affect me quite the same, as it does you, remember?" Klaus explained, still smiling at her. He enjoyed these little teasing conversations with her. He always had. She would never just give in and let him have the upper hand. This was no exception. While she continued her way down, she muttered "Yes, the great Original hybrid. Invincible, I should just bow to your superiority!" Klaus chuckled at that. "That's a nice idea, maybe later." He said, not wanting their light, friendly spat to end. "You would just love that, wouldn't you?!" She shot back, smilingly. Then she seemed to remember, where she was and who she was talking to and took a few steps back. She cleared her throat and began again. "So, let's do this! And as much as I hate asking for this, compel me!" She was all business now. Klaus sighed, sad, that the moment between them had passed so soon, it always passed too soon.

There was always something, standing between them. But he wanted to give her whatever she wanted now; after all he had done to her. "I will gladly try, love." He said and approached her. He could see the strength it cost her to look into his eyes. When he stood right in front of her, he fixed his gaze on her eyes and began summoning the power, trying to wrap his mind around hers and forcing his will onto her. When he was confident that his power was just strong enough to hold her mind, he spoke softly. "Caroline. I want you to forget what I told you before. You are now free. You will leave this place and forget the last 2 days." "What? No!" Caroline protested. "You said you would compel me to go, not to forget everything. What, you just want me to forget how you wanted to kill me? I don't want to forget THAT! I want that memory, I need it, because…" she stopped, obviously not wanting to finish the sentence or not knowing how to. "So it didn't work then." Klaus said. He tried to look disappointed. But he obviously wasn't very good at it, since Caroline's next words were an accusation.

"You didn't even try, did you? You want to keep me here, but let me think that you are trying to let me go!" she yelled at him, still staring into his eyes. "Of course not! Why do you always have to think the worst of me?" he yelled back, seriously offended. "Simple." She answered. "Because you are the worst!" Her words hit him like an actual fist and he took a step back. "Well, I guess I deserved that!" he said coldly. Not wanting her to see how much her words were actually hurting him, he turned away from her.

"Well, but it seems you are stuck here for now. You may entertain yourself, as you please. But let me at least offer you a drink. A glass of wine, maybe?" He turned again to face her. She was still looking angrily and doubtful at him. For a while, they just stared at each other, until Klaus couldn't bare her eyes on him anymore. They were green now. They always turned green, when she was really angry. It was odd, how he knew so much about this girl, he had only know for a few months now and even more odd, how much he loved her. His heart felt about ready to explode at that moment. She looked almost too beautiful for him to bear. His gaze had left her eyes and moved on to her lips that were shivering slightly. Again, the wish to kiss her erased every thought he had. _Just once_, his mind begged. Her words brought him back to the scene. "Yeah, I guess I could use a drink. I mean, there's not that much to do around here or is there?" She didn't smile but didn't look as angry anymore.

"Follow me." he said, wanting to please her, to make her smile again. He began to walk towards the bar next to the couch opposite of the fireplace. "Now, what is it your heart desires." He asked her mockingly. The words seemed to have an immense effect on her and she looked at him, obviously shocked. Klaus hadn't intended to give his words an alternate meaning, but she had definitely not connected his words to his invitation of a drink. "Um…" she began, staring at him, her eyes blue again. He didn't want to tell her that he had meant the drink, enjoying her response. He knew it wasn't fair to play her like this. Then the meaning of his words seemed to dawn on her and she laughed nervously. "Oh, um… I'll have a… whiskey?!" she said uncertain, her struggle for composure very open to him. Klaus smiled at her and tried to seem oblivious to her nervousness. He took two glasses and poured some of his best whiskey into them. Then he handed her one glass and held up his own glass to her. She smiled, still not quite having regained her composure.

Klaus knew he shouldn't enjoy this, but he still did. Maybe she wasn't so lost to him, as he had thought. Maybe… But he didn't want to get his hopes up. It could easily be that he had imagined her reaction and that would make him even more pathetic than he felt right now. They drank in silence, occasionally looking at each other. The silence stretched on. She was there, at his house. She couldn't go. He wanted to talk to her, get to know more about her. "Caroline." He finally began. She looked at him curiously but also a little guarded. "Let me ask you something. And don't get mad again. I am actually curious. What is it you see in him, in Tyler I mean?" It cost him quite a lot, not to say his name with bitterness and rage but he managed.

Caroline frowned, studying his face, which he kept straight and open. She seemed satisfied by what she saw in his face, because she answered calmly. "He was the first one who wanted me for who I am." She said in a voice that sounded almost sad. "You see. Before him it was Matt who only needed someone, anyone, really, to make him whole again and cure him from Elena. Maybe he loved me in his way and was grateful that I was there. But I think it was more the comfort of someone who cared about him than actual interest or love for me. He needed someone who loved him and I was able to give him that." Klaus was surprised by the honesty of her answer and also very moved by what she said. It seemed unreal to him that anyone could not see her for who she was and to see any girl beside her.

But he had to know more. "And before him?" he asked, eager to hear more. Caroline hesitated and studied his face again, and then she spoke again, even more calmly, carefully even. "I don't think you know this, but Damon and me…" Klaus interrupted her. "He said something yesterday. 'History and all'. I was wondering what he meant." Somehow the thought of Damon having been with her made him angrier than her current boyfriend, Tyler. "… Yes. Um, we had something, when I was still human. It wasn't really a voluntary thing. I mean, it was at first!" she hurried to say, obviously seeing something in his eyes that scared her. "You know, I don't think I should tell you this." She then said. "What did he do?" Klaus asked, not caring anymore, whether he looked angry or not. He could imagine what Damon had done. The kind of thing vampires did to pretty, young human girls. Abuse them, feed on them, using them for everything they could use them for and in the end normally killing them, when they had no use for them anymore. Caroline confirmed his suspicion just then.

"Well he slept with me, fed on me, compelled me to do things for him and when I didn't succeed, he made me feel useless and unwanted. I didn't realize what he was, of course. He made me forget everything. I just remembered when I became a vampire." She looked very vulnerable, her eyes fixed on a wall. "You know, that's why I don't want him near Elena. I mean he has changed and everything but he is still Damon and I will probably never fully trust him. He has saved my life since then, two or three times. But then again, he has also tried to kill my father. I often don't know what to feel towards him, now that I'm a vampire myself." Klaus listened intently, absolutely mesmerized by every word that came out of her mouth. Another part of his brain was already planning some horrible end for Damon Salvatore. He definitely deserved it. No one treated Caroline like this, human or not human. But then again, was he any better? He loved her with a passion that he only now began to understand and still he had planned to kill her. He was just as bad as him, he didn't deserve her, and he never would.


	17. Chapter 17 - Hopeless -

**Chapter 17 - Hopeless-**

Elena banged the door loudly as she entered the mansion. "He didn't show" she informed anyone who could hear her, which was every single vampire within a mile. She waited in the hall for a second, waiting for Damon's tender mocking voice, or Katherine's snarky one. When no one answered she began walking around. She entered every room she could find and found every single one empty. She began feeling frustrated and a little anxious, when she rounded a corner and bumped into something hard. The something held her by the shoulders and grinned at her with a devilish smile. "Damon, you scared me!" she complained, trying to sound annoyed which was hard to do being as relieved as she was to see him. "Sorry, Princess. Not my intention. So, Klaus didn't come to her house, mh?! Too bad. I'm not surprised though. He might be crazy but he's not stupid" he said. "So, what's the plan now?" a voice behind Elena asked. _Rebekah. _"I don't know. Do you know any place he could be?" Elena asked her. "Only about a hundred or so. He could be anywhere. He's more than a thousand years old, he has places to stay all over the world."

Damon frowned at that and Elena felt desperation creeping up in her brain. There had to be something they could do. While trying to come up with anything, she heard the sound of heals. _Ugh, of course._ She thought, frustrated. "How about we get out of this house? I'm not really thrilled to be in HIS mansion. He won't show up her, anyway." Katherine said, lazily. "Yeah…" Damon answered absently. "I guess you're right. Let's go over to my house. Hey Elena, where is my little brother?" Elena hated the way Damon referred to Stefan as 'little brother'. She knew this was his way of showing superiority over him.

She decided not to comment on it, but shot a disapproving glance in Damon's direction, before answering. "He's at Tyler's house. He wanted to make sure, he's okay. He called earlier. Apparently Klaus tried to compel him yesterday. He wanted to torture him by making him look at Caroline, while she was getting tortured. As if he could ever try to look at anything but her, while she is hurting." Damon laughed bitterly. "So that's his big plan?" he asked. "Destroying the boy's sanity by torturing his girlfriend?" Rebekah smiled at him. "What did you think, why he kept Caroline? I think it's a pretty good plan. It works for most people. Simple death threats don't work for you goody good people, do they?"

Elena hated Rebekah for saying this; actually she hated her for saying anything at all. But the blonde devil had a point. She had to admit it would probably work on herself. If anyone made sure to hurt Damon in front of her, maybe even repeatedly, she would probably hurt unimaginably. Her thoughts were again interrupted by Katherine. "Can we go now? This house creeps me out." She complained in an impatient voice. Damon shot a doubtful glance at her. "On what side are you now, anyway?" he asked, not hiding how much he distrusted her.

"On yours, for now. Since I don't know where he is, I rather stay with you. He obviously changed his plans, or he wouldn't have taken that annoying blonde and run. So until I know, whether he thinks I did my part of the deal, I stay with you." She answered in a nasty voice. "I'm sure you don't mind, Damon. Having me and Elena at your house. Maybe Stefan will be satisfied with me and little Rebekah over here, and you can have Elena all to yourself." Rebekah looked at her, frowning. "Don't tell me you're still not over Stefan!" she asked. Katherine grinned at her. "Well you're not, are you? Can't handle a little competition? We can share." She offered.

Elena didn't like where conversation was heading. "Let's go. I'll call Stefan on the way. Maybe he can convince Tyler to come, as well. Bonnie called this morning. She said she would come over to the Salvatore mansion later, to discuss options." Damon grinned at that. "Well, at least one girl, who doesn't have history with my little brother and me." Katherine laughed, Elena glared and Rebekah looked strangely uncomfortable.

Within ten minutes they were at the Salvatore mansion. Bonnie's car was standing outside and In front of it, the witch herself, looking worried, which of course, worried Elena. They all went over to Bonnie. "Bad news." She exclaimed. "Really, really bad." She continued, breathless. "Yeah, we got it, it's bad. Now, stop the drama and tell us what happened!" Katherine snapped at her. Bonnie's eyes fixed on her face and then went over to Elena's and back to Katherine again. "So weird…" she muttered. Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Ok." Bonnie said, regaining her composure. "So, I did a locater spell. I did everything right. I took her hairbrush and favorite top, Sherriff Forbes gave the blood and still there's no sign of Caroline. It's like she just fell off the edge of the earth." Katherine chuckled. "And that's supposed to be bad news?!"

Elena breathed deeply. How did she do that? How did this bitch make her so angry, she wanted to punch her? But she knew picking a fight with Katherine would do her no good, so she breathed. "Let's go inside. We'll think of something. How about doing a locater spell on Klaus? It probably won't work, since they are together…" "Ooor he killed your little friend and drove into the sunset!" Katherine interrupted again. _Breathe… in … and … out._ "Well, let's go inside, and make up some more horror stories there." Damon offered. "Yeah." Bonnie said. "Let's do that. The going inside thing, not the telling horror stories. Caroline's fine. She has to be!"

Elena hoped Bonnie was right, but a small part of her was wondering, whether Katherine could be right. Maybe Klaus got tired of his whole plan and decided to simply kill all of them, starting with Caroline. _Good thing Stefan is bringing Tyler. Klaus can't take all of us down. _Then again he had just done that the day before, with the help of his hybrids. They couldn't take Klaus, not even with Rebekah on their side. But now they also had the ruthless, crazy bitch Katherine on their side, so they may be would be just as strong as him, if it came down to a fight. _But even if we could defeat him, we can't kill him, without dying ourselves. _Frustrated and without any real hope of finding Caroline or Klaus anytime soon, they all went inside.


	18. Chapter 18 - Intoxication -

**Chapter 18 - Intoxication - **

„Easy, love. That is your fourth glass already. I would not want to get you drunk. Just imagine the scandal it would cause in your little town." Klaus said in a teasing voice. Caroline tried to scowl at him but couldn't repress a smile. _Maybe I should slow down._ She thought but then emptied her glass and set it down hard on the bar. Klaus laughed. "Determined to not take any advice from me, are you?" he asked with a flirtatious smile. _I should get out of here, _Caroline thought to herself, while smiling at him and not moving an inch in any direction. Suddenly Klaus' face changed. He looked earnest and worried. He stepped closer to her, not taking his eyes from hers and said "I hope our little talk did not upset you too much. I assure you it wasn't my intention to make you sad." His voice was soft and tender and Caroline hated herself for finding it comforting. She decided to get out of the defense and to attack straight away, even if only to break the intimacy of their conversation. "Tyler was on vervain yesterday, you know?! You didn't need to compel him to pay attention to me. He would NEVER let me suffer alone. To him, it would be just as bad, as torturing me himself, " she said in a hard, unforgiving tone. She knew her words must have an effect on him, since he had been the one, who had left her with Katherine and gone away to party, while she was enduring the pain.

Klaus looked hurt and surprised but didn't move away. He kept on staring at her intensely. Caroline couldn't help but stare back into his eyes and studying them. She had always thought of his eyes as simply blue. Now she saw that blue didn't fit the spectrum of colors in his eyes at all. Yes, blue was the main color theme. But she saw spots of yellow and green in it and a soft chocolate brown, surrounding the iris. Between the yellow and green spots, she could make out pitch black stripes which seemed to absorb all the light, while the light blue reflected it. It was a strange mixture, light and darkness so close together. She now focused on his other features, took them all in. His nose was straight, with a small dent at the tip. He had high cheekbones which could make his face look cruel but which now looked especially fine. Caroline had often caught herself looking at his lips before. They were unusually red against the general paleness of his face and quite full, for a man's, fuller than hers. Her eyes lingered on the sensual curve of his upper lip.

Klaus seemed to have frozen under her gaze, simply following every change in her face with his eyes, which were very long lashed, she noticed as she looked back into them. _He's gorgeous_, her drunken mind decided, before the sober parts could interrupt her thoughts. She knew she was too close to him. She knew she should go away or at least stop staring at him. His eyes were sucking her in, embracing the drunken part of her mind, while silencing the sober one, which was already too quiet. _Oh god, oh god, _she thought desperately as he moved even closer. In a sudden flash of impulsiveness, she lifted her right hand to his face. She had the irrational urge to touch his clean, pale skin. _I'm going mad, _she decided, faintly amused by this thought.

Then her fingers touched his skin. His eyes widened and his lips parted slightly in surprise, or more, in shock. Caroline's fingers were tickling with a strange kind of pleasure. An electric current seemed to run from his skin through her fingers. It was an irresistible sensation and she felt unimaginably curious, curious of him. She moved her hand gently, caressing his perfect cheekbones, barely touching him with her fingertips. His skin was very soft and warm. She didn't look him in the eyes anymore but following the path of her fingers on his face with her eyes. Her fingers traced the perfect line of his jar, and then moved on to his forehead, still touching him very lightly. She brushed away one of his shiny, blonde curls with her thumb. Now she looked back into his eyes and the shock, she saw in them, finally brought her back to reality.

She gasped in horror and took her hand from his face, then turned around, feeling confused and drunk. _What the hell?_ The horrified, sane part of her brain shouted. _What the hell are you doing?_ Klaus didn't move. Caroline turned back around again, wanting, against her better judgment, to see his face, his reactions. His face looked open, just as confused as she felt and very vulnerable. His lips were still parted slightly and he blinked rapidly. She looked at his chest, which was moving unusually hard for a vampire, as he was breathing heavily.

"I…" Caroline began, not knowing what she should say. "I… um… I'm tired. Good night!" she finally got out and rushed away and up the stairs. As she had reached the top, she heard his faint, soft voice whispering "Good night, Caroline." Then she ran towards the door of the guest bedroom, she had stayed in the night before and opened and closed it again within a split second. As soon as she entered the room, she flung herself onto the bed and pulled the soft, light yellow blanket over her head, not wasting any thought to undressing first.

She couldn't believe what had just happened. Desperately, she now tried to find a logic explanation for her stupid behavior, thinking: _Maybe… maybe he has compelled me again and I don't realize it. I didn't before, sooo…_ her mind voice trailed off. She somehow knew this wasn't the case. The shock in his face had been genuine, not an act. _It must have been the alcohol_; she firmly decided and swore to herself to never touch a drop of alcohol again. Still, this explanation wasn't as satisfying as it should have been. It took her hours to finally fall asleep and when she did she was haunted by dreams, in which a tall figure was chasing after her, whispering her name and offering her comfort and red wine. She knew the figure was trying to trick her, but the voice was soothing and tender, seductive even. When she was exhausted from running, she gave in and fell into soft and velvet darkness, where warm, steady arms were awaiting her.


	19. Chapter 19 - Change -

**Chapter 19 - Change -**

Adusa sat down at the table, she had set for dinner. It was a small round tonight, as many of the staff had gone home, because the presence of the two vampires made them nervous. She understood them, even though she didn't feel any fear herself. Klaus would never attempt to hurt her and even if he did, he could never actually touch her. Her powers were too strong. No vampire could ever do anything to her. The blonde girl, Caroline, seemed nice enough to be trusted for now, but she had decided not to be too careless around her and keep an eye on the girls, her granddaughter and Amelia and the two boys, Eric and Caleb. They were sitting on the opposite side of the table right now, with their father, another younger warlock. Eric was a warlock himself but probably not strong enough to defend himself, when surprised, because he was only ten years old. Caleb didn't have any powers. Their father, Cameron, was a very calm, red haired man, who was in charge of the wild life around the mansion.

Amelia's father, the gardener, had gone home, but Amelia was living here, taking care of the garden, when her expert father wasn't around. Caleb, who was about her age, had decided to stay the night in one of the guest rooms as well and help her watering the plants in the morning. Adusa knew that Caleb had a thing for Amelia, which was not surprising, given her obvious and pure beauty.

They were all eating and talking in this relatively small round, when Klaus entered the room. The conversations stopped immediately. None of them were truly afraid of the old vampire, because he had always treated them very well, but his presence always demanded attention. He just had an air around him, an authority that came from his long life, experience and unimaginable power. Adusa stood up and went over to him. He looked absent and confused.

"Good evening. Do you want to join us for dinner?" she asked softly. He looked different, and seemed oblivious to the presence of all the people in the room. He stared at her with empty eyes, before answering, absently. "Sure, why not."

He sat down next to Adusa, who was placing a platter in front of him and a glass, which she filled with red wine. "Will your guest join us as well?" she asked curiously. Klaus blinked and ran a hand through his blonde curls. "No, I don't think so. She went to bed already."

He was wishing secretly that Caroline would come back down again and eat with them, drink a little red wine. But he knew that she wouldn't. She had been too surprised and confused by her own drunken actions. Now, he tuned out of the little dinner scene before him and strained to hear what was going on upstairs. He could hear constant rustling, like a person who was turning in bed over and over again. She probably wasn't asleep yet. After all, it was only 9 pm. He ate and drank silently, while the conversation around him began again. His thoughts were occupied by what had just happened between Caroline and him. He could still feel her soft fingertips on his face and still see her curious and tender gaze. Her touch had almost been torture, because he knew she would never give into him completely. But it had been too sweet, too beautiful to stop her. He wanted more, wanted to kiss her, to hold her in his arms, touch her hair, her face and the soft curves of her slender body.

It was torture to know, that it would probably never happen. He couldn't stop his thoughts, and he was very grateful, that no one in this room could guess them. Slowly, a strange kind of determination was settling in his mind. He would have her, he decided. His desire was simply too strong to bear any longer, now that he had felt her touch and wanted more. Determined, he emptied the glass of red wine in front of him and stood up from his chair. Then, he left the room without a word.

It was still dark, when Caroline awoke. She knew it was too early to be awake, but she felt anxious and restless. _Something's not right._ She thought. The room looked just, as it had the previous day, but still, something had happened. She was sure of it. Slowly she got up from the bed and walked through the room. She looked out of the window and into the large garden with its beautifully wound paths and greenery. The sun was rising above the trees, slowly coloring the grey treetops in their various shades of green and finding its way to the garden. It was a beautiful scenery, but Caroline couldn't enjoy it. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was different, not right. Determined to find out, what was going on, she crossed the room and opened the door to the hallway. She stuck her head out, looking for something unusual, but finding nothing. Her feet were still bare, because the only shoes she had were the high heels, she had worn to the ball. It was nice to feel the warm, dark wood under her feet, which was weird, since it was as dangerous to a vampire, as running on razorblades was for a human. Maybe she had been wrong and she simply felt anxious, because of this strange place. Maybe she simply missed home. She decided to find Klaus. Surely today she could be compelled and she wanted to leave this place as soon as possible. Her mind was still trying to figure out the events of the previous evening and what they meant. If she got out of here right now, she wouldn't have to figure it out. That was what she wanted, to go home, be with Tyler and not think about what had happened here in this parallel universe like mansion.

No one was crossing paths with her, as she was walking down the stairs. Surely it was too early in the morning for anyone to be up. As she reached the last step, she heard something upstairs, footsteps. She turned around to see a tall figure, hidden in the shadows of the hallway above. "Hello?" she whispered, suddenly afraid. Then the figure stepped out of the shadow and relief rushed over her. It was Klaus. Strange, how she was relieved to see him, when there was barely anything more dangerous than him.

"Good morning, Caroline." He said calmly. Somehow, he seemed different from the night before. The look on his face was strange, hungry, somehow. A light chill ran down her spine. Klaus was moving toward her, down the stairs. She felt paralyzed, as he approached her. Then he was standing right in front of her, with intensive blue, feverish eyes. It took Caroline a few seconds to regain her composure. She then took a few steps back and stood in a very straight posture, trying to look unaffected by his presence.

"Good morning." She began politely. "Let's try again, shall we?!"

Klaus smiled at her, before answering slowly and calmly. "Try what, exactly?" His words were implying that there was more than one thing for them to try. Caroline felt a sudden heat on her cheeks. Klaus raised his eyebrows at her, still smiling. She couldn't let him get to her like this, she decided. Ignoring her discomfort, she answered "Compulsion, Klaus! It has been long enough now."

"I don't think so." He simply said and crossed his arms behind his back. Caroline had a bad feeling but tried not to look to affected. "Um, yeah. Let's try, anyway. I think it will work now!" Klaus laughed and walked past her into the living room. She turned around and followed him with her eyes. "What's funny? You don't think it will work?" she asked suspiciously. He turned around to look at her again, looking dangerous and feverish. "I think it would work just fine." He replied. "Then w….?" Caroline began, but was interrupted by him. "When I say `I don't think so`, I mean that I don't feel like trying today, or tomorrow, or the day after that." Caroline was truly afraid now. So her feeling had been right. Nothing had changed on the outside. The mansion was still the same, no apocalyptic scenario had happened, but he had changed. The day before, he had been attentive, nice, polite and over all good. Today he was still polite. There was no real aggression in his voice or his face, no violence. Still, he had changed. He was dangerous now, calculating and superior. Caroline stood frozen in front of this predator, not knowing what to do or to say.

"I suggest you go back upstairs" he now said in a commanding voice. "I have laid out something for you in the bathroom. I have already packed a bag for you. The plane leaves at 8 am, so we have time for a little breakfast after you get dressed." Then he left the room without any further explanation.


	20. Chapter 20 - Blood spell -

**Chapter 20 - Blood spell - **

Bonnie turned around to look at them, desperation clearly written all over her face. "I didn't have much hope anyway." She whispered. Elena was disappointed. She hadn't really gotten her hopes up, either. Still, there had been a small part in her that had wished for a better result.

"How is that even possible?" she asked Bonnie. "I mean, he probably didn't kill himself." The map and the cup of Rebekah's blood were still sitting on the table, a small drop of blood making its way down the side of the cup to the surface of the map, where a little bit of it was still smeared across the small point of the map that was Mystic Falls. It hadn't worked. Rebekah's blood had remained on this little spot, while Bonnie had worked the locater spell. Bonnie looked confused. "I don't know. But at least we can assume that they are in the same place and Caroline is probably still alive. Maybe he has a witch with a protected place or something. I know grams has made our house undetectable to other witches and a lot of witches do the same thing." She explained.

"Great!" Damon said sarcastically. "So the big bad hybrid has a powerful witch and a hand full of loyal idiot servants. We're screwed!" He went on smilingly. He was lying on a couch in front of the fire place, a glass of whiskey in his left hand and the right arm resting casually on the back of the couch. Elena knew this was only a façade, but sometimes he played it so well, she almost believed in his total indifference. Katherine, who was lying on the other couch in nearly the same posture as Damon, wasn't playing. She seemed relieved about the outcome of the spell. She didn't want to find Klaus. Elena understood her motives, but was still mad at her. Why did she have to hang around them? The way she shot seductive, smiling glances at Damon from time to time made Elena uneasy. Katherine looked like a lioness, waiting for her turn to attack. Elena secretly envied her for the way she walked and how she talked in this purring tone. She understood why men were fascinated with her. Even though, Elena looked the same as Katherine theoretically, she could never manage to look as superior and calm with the little hint of naughtiness. Katherine seemed to pick up on the way Elena looked at her. She turned from looking at Damon, to look at Elena. She smiled sweetly and raised her eyebrows at her. Elena looked away, annoyed of getting caught on wasting even the smallest, little thought on her evil ancient lookalike.

"Alright. We have to do something!" she decided firmly. "We have to start somewhere. Let's go and check the places they might be. Rebekah can make a list of all the places she knows and we can divide into groups." Damon got up from the couch and went over to a small writing table where he grabbed a piece of expensive looking paper and a black pen. He then went over to Rebekah who was sitting in front of the bloody map on the large table in the middle of the big living room. Rebekah sighed but then took the paper and the pen, flattened the paper on the table and began writing. Meanwhile the little red drop of blood that was rolling down the cup was reaching the surface of the map and began to move. Rebekah shrieked in surprise and got up from her chair. "What is it?" Bonnie asked flutteringly. "Look!" Rebekah simply said, pointing at the map. Everyone went over to look at it, even Katherine. The blood was moving away from Mystic Falls very fast and then stopped at another point. "Well, look at that!" Damon said amused. "Georgia!" Elena exclaimed. Damon grinned at her. "Well it is a romantic place." He said mockingly, clearly reliving the memory of their little trip, where she had saved his life from Lexis' vengeful boyfriend.

"Wait." Bonnie whispered, her eyes still fixed on the little map. Elena looked at it. A little bit of blood had divided itself from the drop of Rebekah's blood and was moving a few centimeters away from the fat written word **Georgia** to a smaller one near it. _Atlanta._ Next to it was a little symbol, an airplane. "They're in Atlanta, the airport!" Bonnie said, still whispering. "We'll never make it there in time. If they're already there, their plane will probably be leaving soon." Katherine chuckled. "Too bad. I wonder where they're going. I hope it's far away. Maybe I'll settle in this town again, cause some trouble for little Elena over here." She said in a nasty voice. "Or you just go back, wherever the hell you came from." A calm voice by the front door replied. It was Stefan's. Next to him stood a desperate and tired looking Tyler. Elena felt sorry for him.

"Stefan." Katherine purred, clearly delighted. "So good to see you."

The door opened and a third person entered. "Jeremy?" Elena asked, surprised. "What are you doing here?" Jeremy looked tensed, which was no surprise, given the fact that he was surrounded by five vampires and one hybrid. "I thought I might be helpful. After all, Damon is obviously too busy to train me, so maybe I will at least have the opportunity to kill some vampires, while we're on our way to Klaus!" Elena didn't like that plan or the sound of Jeremy's voice. He sounded angry and aggressive, not the best mood for a vampire hunter in the presence of so many vampires. But she didn't want to provoke him, so she decided not to push him to go home.

"So." Stefan began. "Do we have a plan?"


	21. Chapter 21 - High in the sky -

**Chapter 21 - High in the sky - **

**Sorry that it has taken me so long to update. I don't even know if many people are reading this anymore, anyway. (But for those who do, please review and tell me what you would like to happen. Maybe some character you really want to be in this story? Always open for criticism and suggestions, thank you :) ) **

Caroline was looking out of the window, very deliberately not once turning her head to the left. She didn't want to see him. She just wanted to pretend like he wasn't there. The fear and confusion she felt, were rapidly making her dizzy. For a moment she lost herself in daydreaming about ripping open the side of the plane and jump, before remembering that she was not allowed to run away from him. What had happened since the previous day that had made him change so much? Had he been acting this whole time without ever having the intention of setting her free? If so, it had worked. She had believed him, had even started to feel safe again, only to come crashing down to reality, a reality in which Klaus Mikaelson was the personified evil.

Suddenly she felt a hand on her left shoulder that made her jump a little in her seat. She turned in alarm to look at him. He was smiling calmly at her. Next to him stood a pretty, tall brunette woman, her hands resting on a little cart, on which Caroline could see several chocolate bars and thermos jugs. She could smell the hot coffee and instantly craved it.

"Caroline, sweetheart. This nice lady was just asking, if maybe you'd want something to drink or a little sweet treat?!" Klaus said smilingly. His blue eyes were glistening with obvious contentment. He was already holding a cup of coffee which he took a sip from, while waiting for her response. Caroline scowled at him, before looking up at the young, fine featured face of the woman. The woman wasn't looking at her at all. Her gaze seemed to be glued to the face of the evil hybrid, who had shut his eyes, put the steaming cup in a holder that was attached to the table in front of them and leaned back in his seat, a soft mocking smile playing on his handsome features. Caroline didn't know why this bothered her, but it did. What was that stupid woman doing, staring at passengers like this?

"Uhm, hello?" she said, slightly annoyed at being ignored. That was it. She was annoyed, because she was being ignored and not, because this dumb woman was staring at Klaus.

"Yes." The woman hurried to say, seemingly snapping out of a daydream of her own. "Yes. What can I do for you?" she asked, with a look on her face, that Caroline thought of as guilty. _Great!_ She thought sourly. _She thinks I'm his girlfriend. _Of course the woman would think that. They were two attractive people, travelling together. No one knew that she had been hypnotized and kidnapped by the exceptionally handsome, blonde man who must seem attentive and sweet to the eye of random strangers. Caroline sighed. Maybe coffee alone wouldn't cut it right now. She needed something stronger to get rid of her anger which was beginning to make her feel edgy and hungry.

"Do you serve any alcohol?" she asked the woman who frowned at that question and side glanced at Klaus who seemed to have fallen asleep. Then she answered coldly. "We do. May I ask how old you are?" Caroline's anger grew stronger. She breathed slowly to calm herself. The woman had no idea what danger she was in. Caroline tried not to focus on the thick vein at the woman's throat and instead gathered some mental strength. She then fixed her gaze at the large, brown eyes which immediately turned blank and wide. Caroline smiled, pleased at the weak will of the woman, and then said in a low but sweet voice: "You are going to go and get me a good, nice glass of whiskey right now. Then you are going to go away and stare rudely at lonely men and return every thirty minutes to fill my glass again. Now go!" The woman smiled and went without any further comments, only to return in a matter of minutes with a big glass, filled with a golden liquid. When she was gone for the second time, Klaus opened his eyes and looked at Caroline who was taking a big gulp of the surprisingly tasty whiskey. She looked at him, still feeling a little edgy. "What?" she asked, forgetting her situation and his superiority over her. He gave her his most charming, dimply smile, before talking. "You didn't like the way she looked at me, did you?" he asked, sounding very pleased. Caroline's stomach seemed to tighten. Of course he had picked up on that. Now he probably thought, she was jealous or something, which she was definitely not. If she would have been with Tyler and the annoying woman had been staring, then she would have felt possessive enough to be jealous. But he wasn't Tyler, so there was no reason for her to feel anything like that. Since she had no real answer to his question, or at least none that would lead him to believe anything else, than what this cocky jerk wanted to believe, she shrugged and said. "It thought you were asleep."

He laughed. "Now, how could I be sleeping, while you are facing difficult decisions, like whether you are going to rip some woman's head off or are going to indulge in some under aged drinking?!" he answered with a devilish smile on his full lips. She couldn't help but smile and instantly hated herself and him for that. She decided to use his good mood to try again and find out what he was planning exactly. The only thing she knew by now was that he was taking her to Rome, but why? What was in Rome that he would benefit from? Since when was Rome the city of sociopathic, psycho, serial killers?

"Klaus." She began in her businesslike manner. "Please. It's not like I can go anywhere without your permission anyway, so you might at least tell me what is going to happen. You did tell me the first time you wanted to kill me, so you might as well tell me now."

Klaus looked her straight in the eyes, not smiling anymore. She had to force herself to look at him. Maybe if she showed strength, he would be impressed enough to treat her as his equal again and tell her what he was going to do to her. So she tried to stare him down. Suddenly he leaned in closer. She still didn't look away. _I can win this! _ She thought desperately, while trying to keep her hands, that were both grasping her drink, from shaking. Suddenly her mind raced back to the previous night, to the feeling of his skin under her fingertips, to the honest shock on his face, to the electricity that had seemed to run from his body into her own. He was so close now, his breath mingled with hers. She couldn't help but inhale his scent. He smelled like freshly fallen snow, summer rain and coffee. It was an unbelievably pleasing scent. She knew she should be scared, angry or at least in any kind of discomfort, but she couldn't seem to summon up enough mental strength to overcome the sudden, irresistible urge to be close to him.

Before she knew what she was doing, she leaned in. His eyes were slowly closing, his long lashes touching the pale skin under his eyes. She had never been this close to him. She could see every detail of his face clearly and was amazed by every single one. His lips were almost touching hers now. He lifted his left hand and brought it up to her hair, which she was wearing down. His touch was light and very careful. He stroked her hair lightly once, before bringing his hand under her golden curls to touch her skin. The sensation of his hand on her face was almost unbearably intense. Slowly he pulled her even closer to him. Then she heard him whisper and felt his tingling breath on her lips. "Believe me Caroline. I have absolutely no intention of ever hurting you again." He said in a voice so honest and tender, there was no reason to doubt his words. Their lips were only a split second from touching, when they were suddenly interrupted by a shy, female voice. "Excuse me." The voice said with clear discomfort. Caroline startled and instantly leaned as far away from her kidnapper as possible, while Klaus slowly opened his eyes and leaned back into his seat. "Yes?!" He asked tightly, not looking at the woman but intently staring at Caroline. Caroline looked up at the woman. It wasn't the brunette from before but an equally tall and beautiful red haired woman with very symmetric freckles on her pretty face that was even paler than Klaus'. The woman seemed confused by Klaus' cold reaction. Caroline smiled at her, weakly. Then Klaus seemed to retrieve his manners and looked at the young woman with a charming, open smile. "Hello, sweetheart. What can we do for you?" he asked sweetly. His effect on the woman was immediately visible. Her pale cheeks took on a deep cherry red color as she answered. "Uh, for our first class passengers we have 5 different menus today. Do you want to.." "No thank you, love. We are very satisfied right now." Klaus interrupted her without sounding impolite at all. The woman gave him a last shy smile and then left them alone again.

"Now. Where were we?" He asked in a mocking voice, turning back to Caroline, who was still leaning away from him, as far as possible, almost pressing herself against the plane window.


	22. Chapter 22 - A new kind of danger -

**Chapter 22 - A new kind of danger -**

The red haired woman walked back to the little catering room on the other side of the plane, she was smiling. _He may be nearly invincible, but not as clever as me. _She thought smugly. She knew, he hadn't even suspected who was standing in front him, already twice today. And the blonde, that teenage vampire thing, he seemed to like far too much, had probably not even heard of her, or anything like her. She had reached the catering room and put down the menu cards. She didn't really know why she had gone over there in yet another shape. It had been a little reckless. There was always something that might give her away, sometimes her height or her movement. Sometimes she forgot to change the color of her eyes, or kept a tattoo. But this time she knew, he hadn't recognized her. He had been too preoccupied with his little girlfriend, that boring blonde vampire who would soon be crushed. And of course, he hadn't seen her for nearly five hundred years. Maybe he had simply forgotten. The thought made her angry and she shook it off. _Nobody forgets me._ She thought smilingly.

She had reached a little staff bathroom now and looked into the brightly lit mirror. The face she saw was utterly unfamiliar, but might just be viewed as pretty to those dull, ordinary humans around her. The red hair, the pale face and green eyes. _Wait, green eyes? _So she had actually forgotten to change her eyes, they were the same color, same size and shape as her very own, deep green, cat like and dangerous looking. Why did she always make one mistake? She decided to take the form of the brunette one again, since she would have to return with another glass of whiskey soon. She didn't like the thought of serving that stupid, blonde but she knew she had no choice, if she didn't want to be discovered. Slowly, she gathered her strength and closed her eyes, visualizing every detail of the shape she wanted to reach, trying very hard not to forget a thing this time. They had seen this shape before, so it had to look exactly the same. She felt the strange sensation of her body losing its form, of atoms changing and rearranging themselves differently. It was the greatest feeling in the world, a high that could not be compared to anything else, she had ever experienced, except for maybe **his **touch.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw a different face in the mirror. It was the face of the brunette woman. She studied it carefully, looked for every single detail she might have gotten wrong. The eyes were very large and brown with long lashes. Her skin tone was warmer now and her lips less pink. The skirt was a little tighter and she had to pop a button on her blouse, because this shape was a little curvier than the red haired one, but the uniform still fit. It looked better this way, she decided. She always had to remember to make these little changes, a little more chest and hips here, another skin tone there, since she couldn't change her height. With a last, conspiratorial grin to the brunette in the mirror, she turned and exited the small bathroom, to fetch another glass of whiskey for that clueless blonde.

Klaus was very happy with himself and with his situation. He had her and it was only a matter of time, until she would give into him. If that red haired thing hadn't interrupted them, he might have tasted those sweet lips on his own. Of course, he had kissed her once before, but not with his own mouth, so it didn't really count. The sensation would feel completely different of his own lips, the reaction of his own body wouldn't be the same as of that wolf boy's. Caroline had begun to stare out of the window again, but he knew that he was constantly on her mind. He smiled at the thought and tried to imagine what might happen in this beautiful head right now. Did she regret, what almost had happened? Did she want it? Maybe she was just thinking about leaning over and kissing him, right this minute. There was nothing in this world or any other that would make him happier. He lost himself in his imagination, and could almost feel her lips on his. He wanted her, wanted every part of her and he would get what he wanted, he always did. Maybe he should try a different approach.

"Caroline, sweetheart. Are you alright?" he asked the beautiful blonde, next to him. He saw her, turning her head the slightest bit and then staring back out of the window again, pretending not to hear him. "Look. There is really no need to worry about anything. If you really want to know what's going to happen, once we're in Rome, I'll gladly tell you. I wanted to surprise you, that's all."

This caught her attention and she turned around to face him, her perfect blue eyes, glistening with curiosity and suspicion. "Surprise me?" she asked, "Surprise me how, exactly?"

Klaus sighed. Why couldn't she just trust him? _Well, maybe because you kidnapped, compelled and threatened to kill her, only to rescue her and kidnap her again! _ A mocking, sarcastic voice in his head answered mercilessly. He frowned. Yes, he wasn't exactly Romeo, his ways of seduction might seem very… unusual. He had to smile at his own thoughts and saw Caroline staring at him, questioningly.

"Alright." He began, a little disappointed about the fact that he would have to tell her everything, instead of surprising her, but maybe she would relax a little, after he did. "When we arrive at Rome, we will drive to the most expensive and luxurious hotel, where you can freshen up. I had someone go shopping for you. We will have lunch and maybe feed a little. I have excellent donors in Rome. Then we will go out and do what normal couples do, sightseeing, a little boat tour, things like that." He said, and smiled at her, hoping to make her smile as well. Caroline frowned. "We are not a couple, nor will we ever be. And why are you doing this? What do you want?" she asked firmly. Klaus looked at her, intently, trying to catch her mood, to maybe guess her real thoughts, before simply answering with the only truth. "You!"


	23. Chapter 23 - Airport awkwardness -

**Chapter 23 - Aiport awkwardness - **

"So now what?", Damon asked in his most annoyed voice. Bonnie, who was standing next to him, was fidgeting nervously with a crystal in her hand. "Well, now you need to be quiet, so I can concentrate", she said, and shot an angry glance at Damon. He sighed. Why did he have to be the one to watch over the little witch? His brother was probably working all his charm on Elena right now. The group had separated, after they had found out that Klaus had taken Caroline to the airport. Damon and Bonnie had driven to the airport, while the rest of the group had gone to see a certain witch, who lived in the area, and apparently was on friendly terms with Klaus. Damon was wondering how Klaus, the most dangerous and evil vampire, had managed to befriend a witch, and a powerful one, while Damon himself couldn't even manage to get little Bonnie Bennett to like him. Granted, he had tried to kill her once, but he hadn't, and he had saved her life after that on numerous occasions. Still, an air of dislike and discomfort was emanating from the witch, and he didn't like it one bit. Bonnie may even think that Damon hated her as well, but the truth was that he admired her. She was the one who was brave enough to deal with a whole handful of vampires, to be a good friend to Elena. Witches and vampires simply didn't get along very well. It was in their genes. Witches were the messengers of nature, while vampires were often considered unnatural, abominations even. This wasn't exactly the truth, since vampires had been created by a witch. Damon was glancing around the airport, eyeing long beautiful necks of young stewardesses and teenage girls, and frowning in anger at the fact that he couldn't feed on them anymore, at least not, if he wanted Elena's respect and love. He sighed again, very audibly, which gained him an angry glace from Bonnie, who was still trying to summon enough energy from the crystal to find out which way the hybrid and Caroline had gone. Suddenly she gasped, and then smiled triumphantly. Damon opened his mouth to speak, when Bonnie beamed up at him and rendered him utterly speechless. He couldn't help but smile and wait for her explanation. "Rome!" she answered his unspoken question, and gave a short laugh. "He's taking her to Rome."

"Oh, how romantic." Damon said with a smirk. He couldn't exactly imagine that Klaus would have had romance on his mind, when deciding to take this trip, but one never knew. After all, Klaus had been very interested in Caroline from the very beginning. "Well, then I should call my little brother", he decided, and pressed the number 1 on his cell phone. After only one ring, Stefan picked up. "What is it?", he asked brusquely. "And hello to you, Stefan.", Damon answered cheerfully, while his smile brightened. Stefan was clearly still in a bad mood, which could only mean that he had not been able to charm Elena. "Cut it out, Damon! Just tell me what you found out", Stefan sighed. "Well, our little witch has found their destination. Klaus seems to be as cheesy and uninventive, as you are yourself. He's taking her to Rome. Isn't that nice?" Damon was in a very good mood now. Having an opportunity to tease his brother always had this effect on him. The other clearly seemed determined to ignore his little stabs, as he simply answered, "Alright, we'll be there soon. We've found his witch, but she clearly won't tell us a thing. Rebekah tried to attack her and is unconscious, but I think she'll recover." Damon laughed, which made Bonnie look at him, curiously. He shook his head at her, and then turned his attention back to his brother. "Alright, we'll wait here, then. I'll get us some tickets."

He ended the conversation then, and looked at Bonnie again, smiling smugly. Bonnie seemed worried. "When you say you 'get' us tickets, you mean buy them, right?", she asked. Damon gave her a dangerous smile, before replying, "Something like that." Before she could object, he was rushing off, looking for an easy target, a weak mind, he could easily force into giving him what he wanted. Usually his compulsion had more effect on someone, who was sexually attracted to him, so naturally he was looking for a woman. Unfortunately, he only saw men in service positions. He frowned and opened his senses a little wider, when he suddenly picked up a vibe two service points down from where he stood. He turned around to face the person it was coming from. A young, handsome man with red, curly hair, grey eyes and an open and friendly face was looking at him, staring really. Damon smiled at him, before approaching him in his relaxed manner. The other man seemed pleased to see that Damon had chosen him to do his business, as his smile got wider.

"Hello." Damon greeted the man, with his most seductive voice and a half smile. The red haired man, whose name plate indicated that his name was Tom Harrison, seemed to be flustered now and his cheeks reddened visibly. _Jackpot_, Damon thought amused, before turning all his senses on the man's mind, to trap it with his own, while staring deeply into his eyes. The man's gaze went completely blank. _Well, that was almost too easy. _

He returned to where he had left Bonnie, to find the witch still standing there, glaring at him. They waited another half hour, in which Damon attempted to casually have a conversation with Bonnie several times, before finally giving up and walking around again to get them both some coffee. When he returned, the others were surrounding Bonnie. Damon's eyes immediately fixed on Elena, who was standing far too close to Stefan for his taste. When the others saw him, he got the tickets out of his black leather jacket and waved them in their general direction. "Who wants to go on a trip?"


End file.
